In 2000 and 2001, Crews served as a staff attorney for the
National Labor Relations Board in
Denver. He later worked as a lawyer at Rothgerber Johnson & Lyons LLP in
Denver from 2001 to 2008, becoming
partner from 2008 to 2010. He worked at Mastin Hoffman & Crews LLC from 2011 to 2013, and Hoffman Crews Nies Waggener & Foster LLP from 2013 to 2018. In private practice, Crews focused on
labor,
business, and
real estate law. He served as a magistrate judge of the
United States District Court for the District of Colorado from August 3, 2018 to January 2024. He was the court's first
African-American magistrate judge. On February 22, 2023, President
Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Crews to serve as a
United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. Crews was the third magistrate judge to be nominated for a district court vacancy in Colorado. During his confirmation hearing, he was unable to answer a question by Senator
John Kennedy, in which the senator asked him to define a
Brady motion, which is a tenet of
criminal law. On May 11, 2023, his nomination was reported out of committee by a
party line 11–10 vote. On January 10, 2024, the
United States Senate invoked cloture on his nomination by a 51–47 vote, with Senator
Kyrsten Sinema voting against the motion to invoke cloture on his nomination. Later that day, his nomination was confirmed by a 51–48 vote, with Senator Sinema voting against his confirmation. He received his judicial commission on January 12, 2024. == See also ==