Federal Judge Figa's family receives 'bad news' about fight with brain cancer

Doctors say his aggressive tumor needs treatment

Hector Gutierrez, Rocky Mountain News

Published March 23, 2007 at midnight

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Denver federal Judge Phillip S. Figa is suffering from an aggressive brain tumor, his family and colleagues said Thursday.

The U.S. district court judge is recuperating at Rose Medical Center from surgery performed March 16. Family members had said the operation was a success and that Figa, 55, had been moved out of intensive care.

"The doctor shared some bad news with us (Tuesday) night," Figa's family said in a statement posted on a Web site. "Unfortunately, Phil has an aggressive brain tumor. He will need radiation and chemotherapy as soon as he has healed from his surgery. We will better know his prognosis at the conclusion of the treatment."

Family members said they are hoping that Figa will be able to return home by the weekend.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado announced that other judges will handle cases that had been assigned to Figa while he recovers. Figa's recuperation and treatment are expected to last several weeks, according to a statement from the court.

President Bush nominated Figa to the bench, and the U.S. Senate confirmed him for the job in 2003. Figa previously had served as the Colorado Bar Association president. He is a graduate of Cornell Law School in New York, and was admitted to the Colorado bar in 1976.

In one of his last major cases, Figa had been presiding over a civil lawsuit that had been brought by Bobby Maxwell, a former auditor of the U.S. Department of the Interior, against Kerr-McGee Corp. The suit accused the firm of cheating the federal government out of millions of dollars in royalties.

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