Menu icon Access the Business Officer Magazine menu by clicking or touching here.
Colorado Lawyer Magazine logo, click or touch this logo to return to the homepage Click or touch the Colorado Lawyer Magazine logo to return to the homepage. Search
Under Oath

Hayden DePorter

Member Spotlight

May 2023

Download This Article (.pdf)

Hayden DePorter is an appellate law clerk at the Colorado Court of Appeals. As a nonbinary person, they strive to create a more equitable and inclusive legal community one conversation at a time.

Hometown: Chicago, Illinois
Law School: University of Denver
Lives in: Denver
Works at: Colorado Court of Appeals
Practice Area(s): Appeals
CBA Member Since: 2018
Pronouns: They/them/theirs

Describe yourself in five words:

Optimistic, empathetic, enthusiastic, positive, motivated.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?

Have the courage to live a life that’s true to yourself, not the life that others expect of you.

What do you like the most about your practice area?

I love working on appeals because each case is different. It’s nice to be able to learn and grasp all different kinds of law, whether civil or criminal.

Outside of the law, what are your hobbies?

I feel like I’m a Colorado cliché. I love hiking, biking, gardening, and anything that gets me outside.

What’s your favorite Denver restaurant?

Fire on the Mountain. They have the BEST vegan wings.

What’s your favorite spot in Colorado?

Boettcher Mansion on top of Lookout Mountain. It’s where I married the love of my life. It’s a place that holds some of my happiest memories.

What’s the most random job you’ve ever had?

In college I worked in a plant breeding and genetics lab. We did old school plant breeding of beets, carrots, and onions. I like to think that I was Dwight Schrute.

What’s your favorite thing to cook?

Homemade pesto pasta. I like to add kale and spinach to the pesto to add some super greens.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?

Coming out as nonbinary in time when there was not a lot of visibility or understanding. I came out right before law school. On the first day of law school, we received printed name tags with our pronouns on them. Somehow, I missed the place in registration to provide my pronouns, so my name tag was blank. I looked around the first day and saw nobody who had “they/them” on their name tag. At the end of the day, I grabbed a sharpie and wrote “they/them” on mine.  I vowed from that day forward to live my life full of authenticity and pride.

Please share a positive experience you’ve had as a lawyer.

While not specific, I feel incredibly grateful to be in a profession where I love both the work that I do and the people around me.

 

Explore This Issue