Phil Weiser


Philip Jacob Weiser is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the 39th Colorado Attorney General, 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. He previously served in the Obama and Clinton Administrations in the White House and Justice Department. 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.

Early life and education

Weiser holds a bachelor's degree from Swarthmore College with high honors and a J.D. degree from the New York University School of Law, with Order of the Coif honors, where he was an Articles Editor for the New York University Law Review.

Career

Law and academia

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 in the U.S. Supreme Court from September 1995 to August 1996. Following his clerkships, he was senior counsel to Joel Klein, the Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Antitrust Division from 1996 to 1998.
In 1999, Weiser joined the University of Colorado Boulder Law School 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.

Obama administration

In 2009, President Barack Obama 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.
From June 2011 through July 2016, Weiser served as the 15th Dean of the University of Colorado Law School. During his time as Dean 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 Ethics Initiative.

Attorney General of Colorado

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.

Personal life

Weiser is one of two sons born to a Holocaust survivor who came to the United States at a young age. His mother was born in a German concentration camp before coming to the United States at age six.
On November 10, 2002, Weiser married Heidi Wald, a physician, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and they now live together with their two children in Denver.

Selected publications

Books

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