He entered private practice in San Francisco in 1898, and was an assistant professor and lecturer at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law from 1902 to 1906.

[1] On January 10, 1935, Denman was nominated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit vacated by Judge William Ball Gilbert.

[1] He served as Chief Judge and as a member of the Judicial Conference of the United States from September 1, 1948 to July 3, 1957, when he assumed senior status.

[3] The Ninth Circuit permitted the government to force Japanese Americans into internment camps, and the Supreme Court affirmed the following year.

The destruction of their business connections means for many that they will not be able to return to their native areas; in effect, as were the French Canadians so taken to Louisiana."