We are deeply saddened by the passing of former Colorado Supreme Court Justice Melissa Hart. Justice Hart dedicated her career to making legal help more accessible and equitable to the people it serves. Her impact is evident across the legal community, including her support for Colorado’s licensed legal paraprofessional program. She taught and mentored generations of lawyers while maintaining a pro bono practice, and served on the Frontline Justice Task Force and National Leadership Council. We are grateful for her leadership, compassion, and commitment to expanding community-based solutions. Her legacy will continue through the many people and institutions she inspired.
Justice Melissa Hart (ret.) served on the Colorado Supreme Court from 2017-2026. She was a member of the Colorado Access to Justice Commission and an Adviser to the American Law Institute’s Principles of the Law, High-Volume Civil Adjudication project. She was a member of the Colorado Women’s Bar Association Foundation Board and a founding Board member of Legal Entrepreneurs for Justice (Colorado’s affordable law practice incubator) and of the Sonia Sotomayor Inn of Court. Prior to joining the Court, Justice Hart was a professor at the University of Colorado Law School, where she directed the Byron R. White Center for the Study of American Constitutional Law. Throughout her years as a professor, Justice Hart maintained an active pro bono practice, writing amicus briefs in appellate courts and representing clients pro bono. Her teaching and scholarship focused on access to justice, constitutional law, judicial decision-making, legal ethics, employment discrimination, and civil procedure.
Justice Hart grew up in Denver, graduating from East High School. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Harvard-Radcliffe College, spent a year teaching at a high school in Athens, Greece, then returned to Harvard for law school. At Harvard Law, she was the Articles Editor for the Harvard Law Review and Book Review Editor for the Harvard Women’s Law Journal. After graduating in 1995, she clerked for Judge Guido Calabresi of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and for Justice John Paul Stevens of the United States Supreme Court. Following her clerkships, she practiced law for several years in Washington, D.C., including as a Trial Attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice.