April D. Jones Begins Term as Colorado Bar Association’s First Black Woman President-Elect

Founder & CEO of Jones Law Firm will focus on making Colorado a first-choice state for lawyers, strengthening member value & preparing the profession for change

DENVER, CO, UNITED STATES, October 5, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- April D. Jones, Founder and CEO of Jones Law Firm, PC, has been installed as President-Elect of the Colorado Bar Association (CBA), the professional organization representing Colorado’s legal community since 1897. With her installation, Jones becomes the first Black woman to hold the position of President-Elect in the association’s history. She will serve a one-year term in the role and ascend to the presidency in July 2027, where she will become the first Black woman President of the nearly 16,000-member statewide voluntary bar association.

The President-Elect is the senior CBA officer position immediately preceding the presidency. During the 2026–2027 term, Jones will work alongside CBA President Qusair Mohamedbhai, Executive Director Nicoal C. Sperrazza and the Executive Council on current priorities while preparing the agenda for her presidential year.

“We are honored to introduce April Jones as President-Elect of the Colorado Bar Association. With more than three decades of leadership and service, April has made a lasting impact on Colorado’s legal community. Her dedication extends beyond the Colorado Bar Association and CLE to the thousands of clients she has served, as well as her meaningful contributions to the University of Colorado’s medical community,” said Nicoal C. Sperrazza, Executive Director of the Colorado and Denver Bar Associations. “We look forward to April’s leadership in the 2026-2027 bar year, as well as her presidential year, as we continue shaping the future of the Colorado legal profession together.”

Jones’s developing presidential agenda is organized around the vision of making Colorado a first-choice state for lawyers deciding where to practice, build their careers, grow their firms and establish long-term professional roots. She intends a lawyer-centered presidency focused on tangible member value and on creating an environment where lawyers can succeed professionally and economically.

“Colorado should be a place where talented lawyers want to come, where new lawyers can see a future and where established lawyers and firms can continue to grow. I want the CBA to ask what it takes to make Colorado one of the best places in America to be a lawyer, and then help build the education, connections, leadership opportunities and practical resources that make that true. Helping Colorado lawyers build strong, sustainable careers and practices, using technology innovation where it makes our practices and those we serve even stronger,” said Jones.

Leadership Priorities for the Year Ahead

Jones vision begins with Colorado lawyers directly; she wants the CBA to understand what Colorado lawyers need to succeed today and anticipate what they will need as the profession changes. She sees a strong bar association as one that provides practical value throughout a lawyer’s career through relevant education, meaningful professional connections, leadership and mentorship opportunities, practice-management resources and a professional community that gives lawyers reasons to build their careers in Colorado and stay.

The needs of Colorado lawyers vary widely. A new lawyer building a career has different needs from an established practitioner, and solo and small-firm lawyers face different challenges from lawyers in midsize and large firms, government, corporate practice and public service. Jones wants the CBA to be useful across those differences while recognizing that a healthy legal profession includes lawyers who can build successful practices, develop professionally, create businesses, employ others and adapt as the economics and delivery of legal services change.

Technology readiness will be a significant part of that work as artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies are rapidly changing both the practice and business of law. Jones will support the CBA in convening strong voices from law, technology, ethics, education and practice management so members have credible information, practical education and ethical guidance for evaluating emerging tools. She believes Colorado lawyers should be on the leading edge rather than the bleeding edge, using innovation where it makes them better, more efficient and more competitive while protecting attorney-client privilege, confidentiality, privacy, accuracy and professional responsibility.

That support is particularly important for solo, small and midsize firms that may not have dedicated technology, innovation or practice-management teams. Jones wants the CBA to help ensure that the size of a lawyer’s organization does not determine whether that lawyer has access to the credible information and practical resources needed to compete and succeed as the profession evolves.

Jones also sees an opportunity for closer alignment among the Colorado Bar Association, Denver Bar Association and CBA-CLE to strengthen professional education, member resources and community. A coordinated system can make membership more valuable while allowing the organizations to respond more quickly to changes affecting lawyers and their practices.

Underlying Jones’s agenda is a straightforward question: What will make Colorado one of the best places in America to be a lawyer? For Jones, that means creating an environment where talented lawyers want to come, new lawyers can see a future, established lawyers can continue to grow, firms and practices can succeed, and lawyers have a strong professional organization invested in their success. Her goal is for lawyers choosing where to begin a career, build a practice or put down professional roots to see Colorado as a place where they can thrive and want to stay.

A Long Record of Service to Colorado’s Legal Community

Jones’s election as President-Elect is the latest chapter in a longstanding relationship with the Colorado Bar Association. A CBA member since 2000, she has served the association in governance and leadership roles over many years, including service on the Board of Governors and multiple periods of service on the Executive Council. She has also represented the CBA through the National Caucus of State Bar Associations and the American Bar Association House of Delegates. Most recently, she served as Senior Vice President during the 2025–2026 term before becoming President-Elect for 2026–2027.

Her CBA leadership is part of more than three decades of service to Colorado’s legal and judicial institutions. Jones has served twice as President of the Sam Cary Bar Association, Colorado’s preeminent professional organization for African American attorneys, first in 2005 and again in 2021. She received the association’s King Tremble Lifetime Achievement Award in 2023.

At CBA-CLE, the continuing legal education organization serving the Colorado and Denver Bar Associations, Jones has served as a board member, Vice President, President and Treasurer. She led the organization during pandemic-era restructuring that modernized continuing legal education delivery and strengthened its operational foundation.

“I have had the good fortune of being able to work with April for many years, first as a fellow volunteer on the Denver Bar Association Board of Trustees, and second in my current position as Executive Director of CBA-CLE, with April serving as President and, now, Treasurer of the CBA-CLE Board of Directors,” said Dan Sweetser, Executive Director of Continuing Legal Education in Colorado, Inc. (CBA-CLE). “April has led the way for many others as a prominent diverse leader in a not-so-diverse profession, which has been no easy task. I am proud to call April a colleague and a friend and thrilled to see her step into the role of CBA President-Elect; a long-time coming milestone for the association.”

Her judicial selection service spans more than a decade. Jones served as a Nomination Commissioner for the Colorado Supreme Court and Colorado Court of Appeals from 2008 to 2013, later served on the U.S. District Court Bipartisan Selection Advisory Committee, and was appointed Co-Chair of the U.S. District Court Vacancy Committee in 2021. She currently serves on the Colorado Supreme Court Standing Committee on Rules of Professional Conduct and the Legal Technology Advisory Committee.

Together, those experiences have given Jones a view of the profession from multiple perspectives: as a practicing lawyer, law firm founder and employer, bar leader, judicial-selection commissioner and longtime volunteer within Colorado’s legal institutions. She brings that experience to the CBA presidency with a focus on what Colorado lawyers need to build strong careers and practices and what the profession will need to remain strong in the years ahead.

Jones earned her Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Berkeley, and her Juris Doctor from the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco. She is admitted to practice in Colorado and California and has practiced family law for more than 30 years. Her recent recognition includes being named a 2026 “Courageous Leader of Today” by the Colorado Women’s Bar Association Foundation and being featured in the 2026 Colorado edition of Super Lawyers magazine.

About Jones Law Firm, PC

Jones Law Firm, PC is a Colorado family law firm serving individuals and families throughout the Colorado Front Range. Founded by April D. Jones, Esq., the firm provides legal representation in divorce proceedings, child custody and parenting time disputes, spousal maintenance determinations, property and asset division, and post-decree modifications. With a team of 44 attorneys and legal professionals, Jones Law Firm, PC handles the full spectrum of family law matters — from uncontested divorces to complex, high-conflict litigation. April D. Jones, Esq. is a Colorado Super Lawyers honoree and serves as incoming President of the Colorado Bar Association. Under her leadership, Jones Law Firm, PC has grown into one of the Denver metro area’s established family law practices. For more information or to schedule a free consultation, visit www.DenverDivorceAttorneys.com or call (303) 799-8155.

About the Colorado Bar Association

Founded in 1897, the Colorado Bar Association is a statewide voluntary bar association with nearly 16,000 members. The CBA works to help members improve practice quality, economics and efficiency; support and improve the justice system; and enhance public confidence in the legal profession. The association provides professional development, publications, practice resources and community for Colorado lawyers. Learn more at www.cobar.org.
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April D. Jones on becoming President-Elect of the Colorado Bar Association