Judge Michele M. Christiansen Forster was appointed to the Utah Court of Appeals in 2010 by Governor Gary Herbert, following her service as a Third District Court Judge. A graduate of the University of Utah College of Law, she began her career as a judicial law clerk for the Honorable Tena Campbell, U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, before joining Parsons Behle & Latimer. Judge Christiansen Forster went on to serve as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Utah, then as Executive Director of the Utah Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice. In 2006, she was appointed General Counsel to Governor Jon M. Huntsman, Jr., where she helped lead major statewide initiatives, including the Utah Methamphetamine Joint Task Force and the Utah Sexual Violence Council. In addition to her judicial duties, Judge Christiansen Forster teaches as an adjunct professor at the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law. She serves as Co-Chair of the Utah State Bar’s Pro Bono Commission and sits on the Salt Lake County Bar Association Executive Committee. Her prior leadership includes serving as President of the David K. Watkiss-Sutherland II Inn of Court, membership on the Executive Board of Women Lawyers of Utah, and chairing the Judicial Council’s Commissioner Conduct Committee.