Judge Michele M. Christiansen Forster was appointed to the Utah Court of Appeals in June 2010 by Gov. Gary Herbert. Prior to her appointment, Judge Christiansen Forster had been serving as a Third District Court Judge since May 2007. Judge Christiansen Forster received her law degree from the University of Utah College of Law in 1995. She then served as a judicial law clerk for one year with the Honorable Tena Campbell, United States District Court Judge for the District of Utah, following which she joined the Salt Lake law firm of Parsons Behle & Latimer. In March 1998, Judge Christiansen Forster joined the United States Attorney's Office, District of Utah, as an Assistant United States Attorney. In January 2005, she was appointed executive director of the Utah Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice and in July of 2006, Judge Christiansen Forster became general counsel to Gov. Jon M. Huntsman, Jr. During her tenure in the Governor's Office, Judge Christiansen Forster co-chaired the Utah Methamphetamine Joint Task Force and chaired the Utah Sexual Violence Council. She served as a member of the Guardian Ad Litem Oversight Panel, the Utah Sentencing Commission Executive Committee, the Utah Substance Abuse and Anti-Violence Coordinating Council, the Governor's Violence Against Women and Families Cabinet Council, the Initiative on Utah Children in Foster Care, and the Access to Justice Council. Judge Christiansen Forster is an adjunct professor at the University of Utah S. J. Quinney College of Law, and currently serves as Co-chair of the Utah State Bar's Pro Bono Commission and on the Salt Lake County Bar Association Executive Committee. The judge is the past-president of the David K. Watkiss-Sutherland II Inn of Court, and previously served on the Executive Board of Women Lawyers of Utah, the Judicial Council's Ethics Advisory Opinion Committee, and as the chair of the Judicial Council's Commissioner Conduct Committee. 8/20 

Judge Ryan M. Harris was appointed to the Utah Court of Appeals in June 2017 by Governor Gary R. Herbert. Prior to his appointment, Judge Harris served as a trial judge in the Third District Court for nearly six years, where he served as the Associate Presiding Judge. While a trial judge, Judge Harris also served on various committees, including the Advisory Committee on Model Civil Jury Instructions and the Small Claims Jury Committee. Judge Harris also twice received the Judicial Excellence Award from the Litigation Section of the Utah State Bar. Judge Harris graduated magna cum laude and with University honors from Brigham Young University in 1995, and graduated with distinction from Stanford Law School in 1998. Upon graduating from law school, Judge Harris served as a judicial clerk to the Honorable Stephen H. Anderson of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Following his clerkship, Judge Harris practiced law in Salt Lake City at the firm of Jones, Waldo, Holbrook & McDonough, where in addition to maintaining a civil trial practice he also served on the firm's board of directors and executive committee. Judge Harris also worked as an adjunct professor of law at the University of Utah's S.J. Quinney College of Law. Prior to his appointment to the Third District Court, Judge Harris served as a small claims judge for eight years. Judge Harris is a past chairperson of the Litigation Section of the Utah State Bar. 8/17  

Judge David N. Mortensen was appointed to the Utah Court of Appeals in May 2016 by Gov. Gary R. Herbert. Prior to his appointment, Judge Mortensen served as a trial judge in the Fourth District Court for almost ten years where he served multiple terms as the presiding judge and associate presiding judge. Judge Mortensen graduated from the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University in 1993. Judge Mortensen was in private practice as a trial attorney before becoming a judge. He is a member of the A. Sherman Christensen Inn of Court. He has taught as an adjunct professor at The J. Reuben Clark Law School. Judge Mortensen previously served as a member of the Utah Judicial Council and as a member of the Board of District Court Judges. Judge Mortensen received the 2016 Distinguished Service Award from the Government and Politics Legal Society of the J. Reuben Clark Law School. Judge Mortensen is currently the Chair of the Court Facilities Planning Committee, and is a member of the Utah State Court's Technology Committee. Judge Mortensen also currently serves on the Judicial Conduct Commission and is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. 8/20 

Judge Gregory K. Orme was appointed to the Utah Court of Appeals by Gov. Norman H. Bangerter in January 1987, when the court was first established. He has served on the court for thirty-four years. He graduated from the University of Utah, magna cum laude, in 1975. Three years later he received a law degree, with high honors, from George Washington University, in Washington D.C. Judge Orme served as a law clerk to Judge Monroe G. McKay, Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. He was a partner in the law firm of VanCott, Bagley, Cornwall & McCarthy at the time of his appointment to the Utah Court of Appeals. Judge Orme has served two prior terms as the court's presiding judge, four terms on the Judicial Council, six years as chair of the Ethics Advisory Committee, ten years on the Judicial Performance Evaluation Committee, six years as chair of the Commissioner Conduct Committee, and twelve years on the Utah Sentencing Commission. Judge Orme currently serves on the Utah Supreme Court's Advisory Committee on the Rules of Appellate Procedure and is the judicial advisor to the Utah Bar Journal. He was a member of the executive committee of the Utah State Bar's Appellate Practice Section for many years. Judge Orme is the recipient of the Utah State Bar's annual awards for Young Lawyer of the Year (1986) and Judge of the Year (2007). He is a Life Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. 10/21 

Judge Ryan D. Tenney was appointed to the Utah Court of Appeals in June 2021 by Governor Spencer J. Cox. Judge Tenney graduated from the University of Utah in 2000 and BYU Law School in 2003, both with honors. After graduating from law school, Judge Tenney clerked for Judge Norman Jackson of the Utah Court of Appeals. He then spent several years practicing with a civil litigation firm in Provo, after which he spent almost a decade as an attorney in the criminal appeals division of the Utah Attorney General's Office. At the time of his appointment to the bench, Judge Tenney was an appellate attorney with the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Utah, where he represented the United States in criminal appeals before the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Tenney was an adjunct professor at BYU Law School from 2008 through 2021. At BYU, Judge Tenney taught an upper division appellate brief writing seminar and a course in the international LLM Program, and he also helped coach the national moot court team. Judge Tenney has served on the ethics advisory committees for both the Utah judiciary and the Utah state bar, as well as in leadership roles for the Utah state bar's constitutional law and appellate law sections. Judge Tenney is currently a member of the Utah Sentencing Commission. 7/22