Tom Moorhead was appointed to the 5th Judicial District Court bench in 2002 as a District Judge. He served the last three years on the bench as Chief Judge of the district. Judge Moorhead handled a diverse docket in Eagle County which included complex civil actions of construction defects, 106 reviews of controversial land use and zoning approvals, medical malpractice and family law. While a Judge, Moorhead served on the Office of Dispute Resolution Advisory Committee, the CBA Criminal Law Section, the Judicial Education Committee for the annual conferences, the Probation Advisory Committee and the Chief Judge Council.
Prior to his appointment to the bench, Moorhead was Vail Town Attorney for 8 years and then accepted the position as Eagle County Attorney. His career began as a litigator prosecuting major felonies and then as a civil litigator handling complex litigation including mass tort, environmental, employment law and medical malpractice.
In 2013, Moorhead attended the National Judicial College Civil Mediation training. He joined the JAG staff of arbiters in December, 2013. Moorhead has been a regular presenter and judicial panel member at AAML and FLI CLE programs. He has also presented on zoning, building code and employment issues. He has been on the board of Eagle Valley Youth Coalition (now Mountain Youth), the Eagle Valley Land Trust, SOS Outreach, the Bright Future Foundation, and the Vail Leadership Institute.