Edward Nottingham

Edward Willis Nottingham Jr. (born January 9, 1948) is a former United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado, having served in that office from November 24, 1989, until his resignation on October 21, 2008, after a year of scandal.

Early life, education, and career Born in Denver, Colorado, Nottingham was raised in Eagle County, Colorado. He received an Artium Baccalaureus degree from Cornell University in 1969, and a Juris Doctor from the University of Colorado Law School in 1972. Before becoming a judge, he spent a decade and a half in private practice in Grand Junction, Colorado, interrupted by a two-year stint as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Colorado from 1976 to 1978. to a new seat created by 98 Stat. 333.

During his nineteen-year tenure, Nottingham oversaw a number of high-profile cases, such as a copyright infringement case involving Michael Jackson, a ruling barring the State of Colorado from withholding public funds for abortion, a ruling invalidating a law creating a federal "no-call list" for telemarketers which was ultimately overturned, and the prosecution of former Qwest CEO Joe Nacchio for insider trading.

Although Nottingham's talent as a jurist was never in serious dispute, the consistency of his work and his judicial temperament were matters of widespread concern. On the one hand, The Denver Post reported that Nottingham had a reputation for judicial efficiency, and as "one of the best legal minds on the bench". and punishing lawyers who brought what he judged to be frivolous cases by scheduling them for hearings at 6 AM.

In August 2007, a complaint of judicial misconduct was filed against him with the Tenth Circuit and an investigation started that included two hearings over the course of a year; the complaint concerned allegations that he had spent thousands of dollars at a strip club. Over the course of the year, he was also named as a figure in an investigation into a prostitution ring, in which a prostitute said that he had asked her to mislead investigators. He resigned from the bench on October 21, 2008,

Private law practice After leaving the bench, Nottingham opened a private law practice in Colorado.