He served as Chief Judge of the Denver District Court for the last 4 years of his career by appointment of the Chief Justice of the Colorado Supreme Court. Over the course of his long career he heard many high profile criminal and civil cases and many complex civil and family law matters, always with great attention to efficiency and docket management. He rotated between all divisions of the Denver District Court and served many tours of those divisions.  He was named presiding judge of both the civil and family law divisions. He also regularly heard settlement conferences for his judicial colleagues. Judge Hyatt has received awards for judicial excellence from the Colorado Judicial Institute and the Denver Bar Association.  He was selected as Colorado Law Week’s trial judge of the year in 2013, as well as a Law Week Lawyer of the Year.  He serves on the steering committee for the Center for Separating and Divorcing Families at the University of Denver and is the first senior judge hearing Center cases. He has been a member of the Colorado Chief Justice’s Commission on the Legal Profession since its inception.  He also provided a great deal of video content on the art of judging for the Carr Judicial Learning Center.