Hon. James C. Klein (Ret.) was a judge for the 20th Judicial District Court of Colorado. He was appointed to the bench in 2005. Klein retired on June 30, 2012.
The 20th Judicial District includes Boulder County.
Prior to his appointment, Klein was an administrative law judge assigned to the Workers’ Compensation Unit of the Colorado Department of Personnel and Administration since 2002. Before that, he was a prehearing administrative law judge in the Dispute Resolution Unit of the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (1994 to 2002) and an assistant attorney general with the Colorado Attorney General’s Office (1991 to 1994), where his practice involved workers’ compensation and unemployment insurance matters.
Klein received a B.A. from the University of Colorado Boulder in 1979. He went on to complete a J.D. at the University of Denver, Sturm College of Law in 1987. Klein also completed two years of study toward a master’s degree in public policy analysis at the University of Colorado Boulder.
He was admitted to practice in Colorado in 1988.
After graduating from law school, he began his legal career in private practice in Denver, until joining the Attorney General’s Office in 1991.
Klein is a fourth-generation Colorado native.