Judge Ortiz-White was appointed to the bench in May of 1989. She received her undergraduate degree from Colorado University in Boulder in 1975, and her law degree from the University of Puget Sound School of Law (now Seattle University School of Law) in 1981.
Prior to being appointed to the bench, Judge Ortiz-White was initially in private practice in Virginia and Denver. She then practiced in the Denver Trial Office of the Colorado State Public Defender and later as an Assistant Denver City Attorney in the Claims Litigation Section.
Judge Ortiz-White received the Judicial Excellence Award from the Denver Bar Association in 2000. Her many community activities include participating in activities for the Hispanic Bar Association; serving as a Mock Trial Judge; speaking at various training events for bar associations and other legal organizations; and teaching at the Adult Learning Source; and speaking at Metropolitan State College. She has served as a mentor, been a volunteer instructor for Taekwon-do and English as a Second Language. In her free time she enjoys hiking and biking with her husband and teenage son.
She is a member of the Colorado Hispanic Bar, Colorado Women’s Bar and Colorado Bar Associations.