Christine Arguello
U.S. District Court Judge, District of Colorado

Christine Arguello is a Colorado native who was born in Thatcher and grew up in Buena Vista, Colorado.  Christine is a first generation college student who obtained her undergraduate degree in Elementary Education from the University of Colorado - Boulder where she graduated with Special Honors, was number one in her class, and was selected Outstanding Senior of the School of Education class of 1977.  In 1977, she became the first Latina from Colorado to be admitted to Harvard Law School.  She graduated from Harvard Law School in 1980, where she served as Articles Editor for the Harvard Civil Rights Civil Liberties Law Review.

Judge Arguello was sworn in as a judge of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado in 2008. Prior to her presidential appointment to the bench, Judge Arguello's career included partnership at two private law firms, Holland & Hart LLP and Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP, government service as Chief Deputy Attorney General of Colorado and as Managing Senior Associate Counsel at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and teaching at the University of Kansas School of Law, where she was a tenured full professor.  Judge Arguello is the co-author of a casebook, Evidence: The Objection Method, which is used in numerous law schools around the country.  

In addition to LAW SCHOOL… Sí Se Puede, which she founded in 2014, Judge Arguello is actively involved in other Colorado community organizations and serves on the Board of Directors of the Center for Legal Inclusiveness. In the recent past, she also served on the Board of Directors for the Colorado Women’s Bar Association Foundation, the Colorado Hispanic Bar Association, and the Stapleton Development Corporation.  

Judge Arguello will be inducted into the Colorado Latino Hall of Fame on October 24, 2019, in the Public Service Category which recognizes an individual who has shown outstanding dedication to their work as an elected or appointed official, maintained high ethical standards, and whose leadership in government and commitment to public service advance the Latino community.

In March of 2014, Judge Arguello was inducted into the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame for the many glass ceilings she has shattered.

In September of 2019, Judge Arguello was inducted into the Colorado Latino Hall of Fame.

Other honors and awards received by Judge Arguello include:

• Latina Trailblazer, Latinas First Foundation (2013)

• Honoree, Women Attorneys Who Continue to “Raise the Bar”, Colorado Women’s Bar Association Foundation (2012)

• Social Justice & Human Rights Champion of Change Award, Escuela Tlatelolco (2012)

• Honorary Order of the Coif Award, University of Colorado School of Law (2012)

• “Scouting . . . Vale La Pena!” Service Award, Denver Area Boy Scout Council (2007)

• Qwest Diversity Trailblazer Individual of the Year, Rocky Mountain Legal Diversity Summit (2007) 

• The Denver Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Fiesta Colorado Hispanic Pioneer Award (2001)

• Colorado Women's Bar Association’s Mary Lathrop Award (honoring women trailblazers) (2000)

• Outstanding Hispanic Lawyer, Colorado Hispanic Bar Association (1999)

Paula Black
Orientation

Paula Black is one of the leading business development coaches for lawyers; an award winning and bestselling author of The Little Black Book series including A Lawyer’s Guide to Creating a Life, Not Just A Living: Ordinary lawyers doing extraordinary things. And her sixth newly released collaboration with Jack Canfield, A Recipe for Success: The World’s Leading Entrepreneurs and Professionals Reveal Their Secret Ingredients for Health, Wealth and Success Today. Ms. Black is also a frequent keynote speaker, seminar leader and media guest, as well as a branding expert. She regularly shows her clients and readers how to attract more clients and grow their practice while still having the personal life they really want. She was voted one of the Top Legal Business Development Coaches by the Daily Business Review and is on Forbes Coaching Council.

Melissa Cizmorris
Branding

Melissa Cizmorris obtained a law degree from Brooklyn Law School and undergraduate degrees from the University of Texas at Austin.  She is an associate with Akerman LLP's Denver office where she focuses on labor and employment law.  She has extensive experience nationwide at both the trial and appellate levels, with a focus on appellate litigation in the Ninth and Tenth Circuit Courts of Appeal.  She is admitted to practice in Colorado, Kansas, New York, and New Jersey. 

Melissa was raised in San Antonio, Texas and was the first in her immediate family to attend college.  She was drawn toward Law School … Yes We Can as a way to help first-generation college students navigate the complex and difficult transition from high school to adulthood.  Melissa lives in Denver with her husband and two young sons.  She enjoys hiking, skiing, gardening, and baking.  She also volunteers her time with Denver CASA. 

Lorenzo Trujillo
Past President
Prior Chair of Governance and Nominating Committee

Lorenzo Trujillo is a former professor and dean at the University of Colorado Law School, Dr. Trujillo brings to Law School...Sí Se Puede more than thirty years of experience in the legal and education professions. His depth of expertise in these fields is matched by his breadth of experience in high-level management positions throughout the course of his remarkable professional career. Dr. Trujillo has led numerous statewide taskforces at the request of Colorado’s legislature and the Chief Justice of the Colorado Supreme Court, served as General Counsel for the Hispanic National Bar Association, and led the National Association of Council for Children as its Deputy Director.

Upon accepting, Trujillo stated, “It is truly an honor for me to be able to assume the Presidency of LAW SCHOOL...Sí Se Puede. Our youth represent our hope and investment in the future of America. The mentoring that current attorneys provide to aspiring future legal professionals is critical to establishing a more representative and equitable American legal system. Access to justice to promote fairness and equity for every person is my passion. LAW SCHOOL...Sí Se Puede will open the doors of possibility for traditionally under-represented youth to enter into the portals of the legal system for the benefit of all Americans.”

LaLonnie Gray
Former Vice President

LaLonnie is an experienced employment attorney at Fisher Phillips.  She has represented clients throughout the litigation process in single-plaintiff lawsuits and class/collective actions.  LaLonnie has defended claims brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act, Equal Pay Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, Title VII, Title IX, Age Discrimination in Employment Act, Colorado Wage Act, and Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act.  She routinely defends employers against employment-related claims and charges before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Colorado Civil Rights Division. 

Prior to joining private practice, LaLonnie served as the judicial law clerk to Hon. Christine M. Arguello of the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado. LaLonnie earned her law degree from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law where she served on the executive board of the Denver University Law Review.

Eliseo Puig
Programming

Eliseo Puig is a former law clerk to the Honorable Christine M. Arguello of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado.  Eliseo received his bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Missouri-Columbia and his Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School, where he served as President of La Alianza, the Latino student affinity organization.  From 2010-2012 he served as a Foreign Affairs Officer at the US Department of State. Eliseo is now an Associate Attorney at Arnold & Porter, LLP, where his practice focuses on commercial litigation and a variety of complex civil matters in federal and state courts. 

Eliseo has a strong commitment to public service and believes that mentorship, especially for young people from underrepresented communities, is the gateway to personal and professional success.  Law School… Yes We Can delivers high-impact interventions to talented young people reaching for higher education, and Eliseo is delighted to be a part of an organization that will change the face of our legal profession.

Aria Vaughan
Programming and Curriculum Committee

Aria S. Vaughan litigates cases to enforce the civil rights of students, in K-12 public schools, colleges, and universities, nationwide.  Her practice focuses on ensuring that school officials do not discriminate against students on the basis of race, national origin, sex, language, religion, or disability.  Previously, she clerked for Judge Arguello and Judge Nancy J. Lichtenstein of the Colorado Court of Appeals.  Aria was also a fellow at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, where she litigated cases that focused on dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline, expanding educational opportunities for students of color, and desegregating schools that remain under federal consent decrees.  Aria is a Denver native and a graduate of East High School. 

Aria is a founding board member of LAW SCHOOL…Yes We Can.  She has spent years as a teacher, tutor, mentor, and coach.  Aria sees education as vital to her own and others’ socioeconomic mobility and has long-dedicated her time to improving educational opportunities for all students.  Aria’s commitment to LAW SCHOOL…Yes We Can stems from her belief that the legal profession should include people from various backgrounds to shape and inform the law.  However, many talented students from historically-underrepresented backgrounds are precluded from the legal profession simply because they lack access to information.  By giving Fellows access to mentors and providing workshops that expose Fellows to law school and guide them through the application process, LAW SCHOOL…Yes We Can helps level the playing field. 

Sam Walker
Fundraising and Donor Communications Committee

Sam Walker has spent his career working in business, law, and labor and education policy.  Most recently, he led Colorado’s Department of Labor and Employment and was a member of Governor John Hickenlooper’s cabinet.  He also chaired the Workforce and Education cabinet, driving innovation and business leadership at the intersection of work-based learning and skills-based hiring.  He currently serves on Colorado’s Business Experiential Learning and Access to Justice Commissions.

Sam returned to public service after retiring as the longest-serving chief-level officer in the history of Molson Coors Brewing Company, a NYSE-listed business headquartered in Denver, with operations in more than 70 countries.  Sam was the company’s general counsel for 15 years, designing the mergers and acquisitions that transformed MCBC into a global industry powerhouse.  He built a legal team recognized for diversity and excellence, including:   the Colorado Hispanic Bar Association’s Outstanding Corporate Commitment Award (2018); and the American Lawyer global grand prize for the global M&A deal of the year (shared with the legal departments of Anheuser Busch InBev and SABMiller plc) (2016).  In addition to his legal role, Sam held numerous business roles at MCBC, including:  managing director for MillerCoors, the second-largest beer company in the U.S. (2008-2012); global chief people (HR) officer (2012-2016); and global corporate affairs officer (leading external and internal communications, government affairs, and corporate social responsibility) (2016-2018).  He championed diversity, working to create a highly diverse enterprise leadership team.

Before joining the Company in 2002, Sam was a partner for 10 years at the Washington, D.C., law firm of Wiley Rein & Fielding, LLP, handling trial and non-trial matters.  

Sam has held several federal posts.  From 1989 through 1992, he was an appointee in the administration of President George H.W. Bush.  He ran the largest agency in the U.S. Department of Labor, the Employment Standards Administration, and held a policy appointment at the U.S. Department of Education.  He also served as a clearance counsel during the 2000 transition of President George W. Bush. 

Sam is a graduate of Duke University and Harvard Law School.

Franz Hardy
Fundraising and Donor Communications Committee

Franz Hardy serves as the co-managing partner of the Denver office at Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, LLP. He is a trial attorney with a focus on business and insurance litigation, including commercial disputes, directors and officers liability, coverage, and employee benefits. Mr. Hardy is also recognized as an accomplished professional liability practitioner representing attorneys and law firms. He maintains an active state and federal court practice, including handling numerous appeals.

Mr. Hardy enjoys helping new generations of law students and lawyers have successful and rewarding legal careers. He regularly meets with students and new lawyers in formal and informal settings to assist in their career development. He also participates in a variety of speaking engagements and mentoring programs in this area. Mr. Hardy has also worked with officials in Colorado’s law schools, leaders of local bar associations, and prominent area lawyers to address diversity and inclusion efforts in the legal profession.