Over the last several years, Colorado Courts have gone electronic in a variety of ways.

Case files are no longer maintained in paper jackets but instead managed on a fully-integrated, statewide computerized network. Attorneys, and soon unrepresented parties, are able to file documents with the Court with a simple mouse-click.

The Chief Justice’s Commission on Professional Development (CJC) is also embracing the online culture – through Twitter.

Expanding on Professionalism Month each October, the Commission’s Professionalism Working Group has created a Twitter initiative, #ProfessionalismMatters #CoLaw, that seeks to reach a wider audience through social media and carry its message year-round.

Originally, Chief Justice Nancy Rice authorized the launch of Twitter accounts for the Colorado Supreme Court, Court of Appeals and State Court Administrator’s Office in late 2015 as another communication channel for the Judicial Branch to reach new and different audiences. The Twitter handles for these accounts are @CoSupremeCourt @CoCourtAppeals and @CoCourts.


Now, the subcommittee wants to connect with all lawyers, from seasoned attorneys reading this and asking, “What is Twitter?” to the newly-initiated who have held Twitter accounts since its inception in 2007.

The Committee believes Twitter is a solid platform, offering a good starting point for easy communication to re-introduce Colorado’s legal community to the importance of practicing professionalism every day, and to remind lawyers that #ProfessionalismMatters through tweets.

Attorney Regulation Counsel for the Colorado Supreme Court, Jim Coyle, concurred, stating that lawyers are leaders in the community, and that exemplary professionalism should be the norm, not an exception.

“Professionalism in the practice of law establishes credibility, strengthens trust, and gets better results,” Coyle said in support of the Committee’s efforts to emphasize professionalism through social media.

#ProfessionalismMatters kicked off at the beginning of 2018. Court of Appeals Judge and Chairman of the CJC Professionalism Working Group, Robert Hawthorne, said the tweets will focus on demonstrating “Why Professionalism Matters” with a wide variety of content posted through @CoSupremeCourt.

“We are going to tweet anything related to fostering professionalism within the bar, including articles, awards, events, meetings, milestones, people, and presentations,” Hawthorne said.

“However, we cannot make this happen alone. We are calling on all members of Colorado’s legal community to use their Twitter accounts to capture and post examples of professionalism. @CoSupremeCourt will be pushing out tweets and will be looking for your tweets with #ProfessionalismMatters and #CoLaw to retweet.”

Have your own professionalism milestone or upcoming event, but don’t have a Twitter account? Share your ideas and experiences by emailing your submissions for #ProfessionalismMatters to Rob McCallum, Public Information Officer for the Colorado Judicial Department, at robert.mccallum@judicial.state.co.us.

Become part of the #ProfessionalismMatters #CoLaw conversation today!