LLM Students Glauce Santesso Coelho and Taciana Marques Play Key Roles as DU Hosts Brazilian Federal Judges Association Conference

Recently the DU Sturm College of Law hosted a visit of more than 30 members of the Association of Federal Judges of Brazil. The Brazilian judges visited the college of law and Denver to learn more about the U.S. legal system as well as to visit several courts located in Denver.

The week-long event was organized by Prof. Rock Pring and his wife Catherine Pring as well as the former president of Brazil's Federal Court of Appeals of the 4th Region Judge Vladimir Passos de Freitas. Prof. Pring and Judge Freitas met several years ago when the Prings were visiting Brazil while working on their Environmental Courts and Tribunals study.

Two Brazilian LLM students were centrally involved in helping the college of law host the members of Brazil's federal judiciary. According to Prof. Pring, "One of the really innovative aspects of the conference was engaging Glauce Coelho [who has practiced as an associate attorney at Demarest & Almeida Advogados and Mattos Filho Advogados, both in Sao Paulo], an impressive Brazilian lawyer who is here getting her LLM in our world-famous Graduate Program in Environmental and Natural Resources Law. Glauce and her team provided the professors with background papers on the Brazilian law of their subjects, inserted Portuguese translations onto the professors' PowerPoints, and assisted the Judges with their questions throughout the morning lectures and afternoon field trips. She was ably supported by two other students of ours: Taciana Marques, [senior associate attorney at Souza Cescon Barrieu & Flesch Advogados in Sao Paulo] another Brazilian lawyer in our LLM Program, and Sierra Russell, a U.S. student in our JD Program who is fluent in Portuguese. The Judges told me they were highlights of the program."

Pictured in the photograph above are Judge Claudia Cristina Cristofani, Prof. Don Smith, attorney Taciana Marques, attorney Glauce Santesso Coelho, U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Carlos Lucero, Judge Nino Oliveira Toldo, Judge Marcelo Navarro Ribeiro Dantas, U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Neil Gorsuch, and Judge Jose Henrique Guaracy Rebelo. The photograph was taken in the Denver Federal Courthouse where the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals is located.