Philip Jacob Weiser (born May 10, 1968) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the 39th

Attorney General of Colorado The Attorney General of the State of Colorado is the chief legal officer for the U.S. State of Colorado and the head of the Colorado Department of Law, a principal department of the Colorado state government. It is an elected position with a fou ...

since 2019. He is the Hatfield Professor of Law and Telecommunications, executive director and Founder of the Silicon Flatirons Center for Law, Technology, and Entrepreneurship, and Dean Emeritus at the

University of Colorado Law School The University of Colorado Law School is one of the professional graduate schools within the University of Colorado System. It is a public law school, with more than 500 students attending and working toward a Juris Doctor or Master of Studies i ...

.Professor Philip J. Weiser faculty profile
University of Colorado. Retrieved September 15, 2017. He previously served in the

Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. Ob ...

and Clinton Administrations in the

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and

Justice Department A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected Attorney General for the State of Colorado in the 2018 election, defeating Republican George Brauchler on November 6, 2018. He was re-elected in

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

. On January 2, 2025, Weiser announced his candidacy in the 2026 Colorado gubernatorial election.

Early life and education

Weiser was born to an

Ashkenazi Jewish Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...

family. His grandparents survived the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

, and his mother, Estare, was born in the

Buchenwald concentration camp Buchenwald (; 'beech forest') was a German Nazi concentration camp established on Ettersberg hill near Weimar, Nazi Germany, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within the Altreich (pre-1938 ...

in 1945. After high school, Weiser studied

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the e ...

, graduating in 1990 with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

with high honors. He then attended the

New York University School of Law The New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it was the first law school established in New York City and is the oldest survivin ...

, where he was an Articles Editor for the ''

New York University Law Review The ''New York University Law Review'' is a bimonthly general law review covering legal scholarship in all areas, including legal theory and policy, environmental law, legal history, and international law. The journal was established in 1924 as a ...

''. He graduated from NYU Law in 1994 with a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

degree and

Order of the Coif The Order of the Coif () is an American honor society for law school graduates. The Order was founded in 1902 at the University of Illinois College of Law. The name is a reference to the ancient English order of trial lawyers, the serjeants-at-la ...

honors.

Academic and federal government career

Law clerk and Clinton administration

After graduating, Weiser served as law clerk to Judge David Ebel of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals from September 1994 to August 1995. He was then a law clerk to Justices Byron R. White and

Ruth Bader Ginsburg Joan Ruth Bader Ginsburg ( ; Bader; March 15, 1933 – September 18, 2020) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 until Death and state funeral of Ruth Bader ...

in the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

from September 1995 to August 1996. Following his clerkships, he was senior counsel to

Joel Klein Joel Irwin Klein (born October 25, 1946) is an American lawyer and school superintendent. He was the Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education, the largest public school system in the United States, from 2002 to 2011. He previou ...

, the

Assistant Attorney General Many of the divisions and offices of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) are headed by an assistant attorney general. The president of the United States appoints individuals to the position of assistant attorney general with the adv ...

for the Justice Department's Antitrust Division from 1996 to 1998.

Academia career

In 1999, Weiser joined the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...

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Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In ...

as a professor of law and telecommunications. There, Weiser established the national center of excellence in telecommunications and technology law and founded the ''Journal on Telecommunications & High Technology Law''. He also founded the Silicon Flatirons Center for Law, Technology, and Entrepreneurship and he wrote and taught in the areas of competition policy, innovation policy, and Internet policy. From June 2011 through July 2016, Weiser served as the fifteenth dean of the law school, and he was named one of the National Jurist's most influential leaders in legal education. Through the Silicon Flatirons Center, Weiser developed a range of programs to build up CU Boulder's support for entrepreneurship and has linked it to the local startup community. Some of the initiatives include Tech Lawyer Accelerator, the Corporate Counsel Intensive Institute and the

Daniels Fund The Daniels Fund is a private charitable foundation based in Denver, Colorado. It was founded by Bill Daniels, a decorated fighter pilot in World War II and the Korean War, who went on to become one of the early pioneers of the cable television i ...

Ethics Initiative.

Obama administration

In 2009, President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

appointed Weiser as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Justice Department's Antitrust Division. He took the post in July 2009, taking a leave of absence from the University of Colorado Law School. In 2010, President Obama named him senior advisor for technology and innovation to the National Economic Council Director, and he participated in a series of policy initiatives.

Attorney General of Colorado

Elections

Weiser was elected Attorney General for the State of Colorado in the 2018 election, defeating Republican George Brauchler on November 6, 2018. Weiser took office in January 2019, becoming the first Democratic Colorado Attorney General in 15 years. Later that same month, Weiser withdrew Colorado from a lawsuit that his predecessor, Republican Cynthia Coffman, had filed against the

Clean Power Plan The Clean Power Plan was an Presidency of Barack Obama, Obama administration policy aimed at combating climate change that was first proposed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in June 201 ...

. In the 2022 Colorado Attorney General election, Weiser was re-elected for a second term, defeating Republican challenger John Kellner and winning over 54% of votes cast.

Tenure

Catholic Church investigation

On October 23, 2019, Weiser released the results of an eight-month investigation revealing that 43 Catholic clergy were credibly accused of sexually abusing at least 166 children throughout the state of Colorado since 1950. On October 16, 2020, it was revealed that all three of Colorado's Catholic Dioceses, the Archdiocese of Denver, the Diocese of Colorado Springs, and Diocese of Pueblo, had paid $6.6 million in compensation to 81 victims of clergy sex abuse within the past year, regardless of how long ago the abuse happened. On December 1, 2020, Weiser's final report revealed that there were an additional 9 credibly accused clergy and 46 alleged victims in both in the Archdiocese of Denver and its suffragan Diocese of Pueblo. Statewide, 52 Colorado Catholic priests were named in Weiser's final report as committing acts of sex abuse. Prominent Archdiocese of Denver priest Fr. Charles B. Woodrich, also known as "Father Woody," was among those listed. Father Woody was known for his work in local homeless shelters.

Personal life

In 2002, Weiser married Heidi Wald, a physician, in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, and they now live together with their two children in

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

Selected publications

Books

* Phil Weiser & Jon Nuechterlein, ''Digital Crossroads: American Telecommunications Policy in the Internet Age'' (MIT Press 2013) . * Phil Weiser, Stuart Benjamin, Howard Shelanski & James Speta, ''Telecommunications Law and Policy'' (Carolina Academic Press 2012) . * Phil Weiser, ''The Jury and Democracy: How Jury Deliberation Promotes Civic Engagement and Political Participation'' (Oxford University Press 2010) .

Articles

* * * * * * * * * *

References

External links

Government website

Campaign website

Silicon Flatirons Center for Law, Technology, and Entrepreneurship

''Journal on Telecommunications and High Technology Law''

''Colorado Technology Law Journal''
University of Colorado School of Law. * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Weiser, Philip J. 1968 births 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century Colorado politicians Colorado attorneys general Colorado Democrats Colorado lawyers Jewish American people in Colorado politics Law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States Deans of law schools in the United States Living people New York University School of Law alumni Obama administration personnel Swarthmore College alumni United States Department of Justice lawyers University of Colorado Boulder faculty University of Colorado Law School faculty