Susan Blanco, COBALT Committee Co-Chair/Whisperer is the Chief Judge of the 8th Judicial District and was appointed by Governor Hickenlooper in January 2017. She has presided over criminal, civil, probate, domestic relations, and terminations and adoptions. Prior to the bench, she served as a Deputy District Attorney followed by over a decade in private practice focusing on criminal defense, juvenile delinquency, dependency and neglect, and municipal prosecution.
Chief Judge Blanco graduated with a Bachelor of Science from Colorado State University in 2000 and her Juris Doctorate from the University of Colorado School of Law in 2003. Her engagement of the community to collaborate on projects with the Judicial Branch include the development of the first Competency Court in Colorado and a Latinx task force focused on improving access to justice for minority populations. Currently she serves on the Chief Judge's Council, the Colorado Access to Justice Commission, the CBA Criminal Law Executive Council, the CWBA Board of Directors, the Colorado Bar Association Leadership Training planning committee, the Colorado Diverse Attorney Community Circle planning committee, and the CWBA DEI pipeline aimed at teaching children about legal professions.
Aaron Thompson, COBALT Committee Co-Chair/Whisperer is the General Counsel for Denver Public Schools with a practice centered on employment, labor, contract, and school law matters. Previously, Mr. Thompson was a member of Hall & Evans’ employment and public entities group representing counties, municipalities, school districts, and state agencies in matters concerning sovereign immunity, federal civil rights defense, and employment issues. Mr. Thompson also represented private employers in matters that involve Equal Opportunity and Discrimination laws including ADA, ADEA, Title VII, and FMLA and a host of other civil litigation matters.
While attending the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, Mr. Thompson was a Charles F. Brannan Scholar, received a Clinical Practice Award, and was a Founding Member, Articles Editor, and Diversity Editor of the DU Criminal Law Review. He also served as a Law Clerk for the Honorable Nancy Lichtenstein with the Colorado Court of Appeals and as a Judicial Fellow for the Honorable Brian D. Boatright with the Colorado Supreme Court. Mr. Thompson is also a member of the Colorado High School Mock Trial Board and was a member of the 2020 COBALT class.
Mariana Vielma, COBALT Committee Co-Chair/Whisperer is a judge of the Adams County Court in Colorado. She assumed office on July 17, 2020. She is a native of Denver and earned her J.D. from the University of St. Thomas School of Law and her undergraduate degree from the University of Texas at El Paso. Prior to becoming a magistrate, she was an Assistant County Attorney and a Sr. Deputy District Attorney in the 17th Judicial District.
Claire Mueller is an associate at Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP, where her practice focuses on complex commercial litigation, corporate control disputes, personal injury defense, and real estate disputes. Ms. Mueller’s experience includes representing clients before juries, appellate courts, arbitrators, and mediators, and she has. represented clients from the legal, energy, automobile, aerospace, and construction industries, among others. Ms. Mueller also maintains an active pro bono practice, where she often uses her skills as a fluent Spanish speaker.
Ms. Mueller currently serves on the board of directors of Family Star Montessori and is a graduate of the Denver Metro Leadership Foundation’s Impact Denver program.
Prior to joining DGS, Ms. Mueller received her J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law, where she received various writing awards and was the chief notes editor for The Review of Litigation, a top-ranked, student-edited specialty law review. She also participated in the National Appellate Advocacy Competition in 2015, where she was chosen as one of the top 10 oral advocates in her region.
Born and raised in Denver, Ms. Mueller graduated magna cum laude from Tufts University with a degree in Peace and Justice Studies. During the five years between graduating from college and attending law school, Ms. Mueller lived in Ecuador, where she taught English and became fluent in Spanish.
John Arceci is Senior Counsel at the Office of the Federal Public Defender in Denver, where his practice focuses on federal criminal appeals across the Tenth Circuit and complex motions practice in the district courts of Colorado and Wyoming. A graduate of Brown University, the Whitney Museum's ISP Studio Art Fellowship, and Vanderbilt University Law School, he joined the FPD after clerking in federal and state courts and has spent his entire legal career as a public defender. Mr. Arceci is member of the Tenth Circuit’s Pattern Criminal Jury Instruction Committee and frequently presents on the topics of appellate practice and procedure and emerging issues in federal criminal law. He was a member of the 2023 COBALT class.
Judge Melina Hernandez was appointed to the Arapahoe County Court in 2021, where she currently presides over civil cases. Prior to that, she served as a magistrate in the Denver Juvenile Court, as a family court facilitator and law clerk in the Denver District Court, and as a legal extern in the Douglas County District Court. Judge Hernandez is bilingual and is dedicated to expanding access to justice for all. She considers plain-language communication in the courtroom to be of utmost importance. As a Center for Legal Inclusiveness Dream Team coach, she mentors aspiring judges to improve equity, inclusion, diversity, and belonging in the legal field. She is a member of the Colorado Women’s Bar (for which she was a 2023 Judicial Excellence Award nominee), Asian Pacific Bar, and Hispanic Bar Associations, as well as the Arapahoe County Bar Association and Access to Justice Courts Committee. She is a Colorado Bar Association Leadership Training (COBALT) graduate and a Colorado Bar Foundation fellow. Judge Hernandez has been involved in several community organizations, including the St. Francis Center. She is a graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder and the University of Denver Sturm College of Law.
Judge Angela Boykins was appointed and sworn in as a Magistrate in the 2nd Judicial District (Denver District Court), on August 30, 2021, by then Chief Judge Michael Martinez. Ms. Boykins’ docket is primarily post-decree Domestic Relations matters, along with Protection Orders, Abduction Prevention Measures, Parenting Time Restricts and Name Changes. Ms. Boykins serves as a second term member of the COLTAF Board, Immediate past President of the Aurora Bar Association, member of the Endorsement Committee for Sam Cary Bar Association, and Community volunteer for various programs and events to improve the lives of marginalized individuals. Prior to taking the bench, Ms. Boykins was a Solo Practitioner with a general practice that was made up of about 50% Family Law. Ms. Boykins’ education includes a BBA from Eastern Kentucky University; an MBA from New Mexico State University; a JD from Ohio Northern University--Petit College of Law; and is a 2017 graduate from Colorado Bar Association Leadership Training. Ms. Boykins’ passions are travelling, baking and pottery.
Toni Wehman is currently the Chief District Attorney of Policy and Public Affairs for the 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office – Adams/Broomfield Counties where she works on community initiatives involving criminal justice reform. Previously, she had worked for the 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office from 2007 until 2010 so this is her second time around with the office. Before going back into criminal justice, Toni was an education lawyer and worked for Denver Public Schools for 5 years in their General Counsel’s office and 5 years for Caplan & Earnest, LLC representing school districts and hospitals throughout Colorado. After graduating from CU-Boulder Law School in 2006, she clerked for former Chief Justice Nancy Rice. Toni is a member of the Colorado Bar Association, Adams Broomfield Bar Association, HS Mock Trial, and participated in COBALT 2011, the Colorado Bar Association's Leadership Training. She also has a Master’s in Public Administration from the University of Minnesota and an undergraduate degree in Economics but she really learned most of what she needed to know about life from her early years as a 4-Her.
Niceta Bradburn Working with children takes special skill and sensitivity, two things that Niceta Bradburn possesses in abundance. As a CASA Barry Glasgow Award-winner for GAL (Guardian Ad Litem) of the Year, Attorney Bradburn is known for her advocacy for children in the court system. For context, a Guardian Ad Litem is a court-appointed figure who represents the legal interests of the child exclusively. GALs are often appointed in complex disputes between parents, and they specialize in ensuring that a child’s voice is heard—especially when that child lacks the knowledge to voice their needs on their own.
Her current practice at The Harris Law Firm focuses on divorce, parental rights allocation, and child advocacy, among other concerns. As a result, Ms. Bradburn is deeply experienced in Colorado law pertaining to children, which is particularly relevant to modern family law. She has also worked as a Child/Family Investigator for the court—this means that she is professionally skilled at uncovering ever factor and detail relevant to a child’s needs in a family situation. She even has spent her time volunteering for adjudicated children, working as a therapist in a wilderness camp designed for juveniles in the system.
Ms. Bradburn received her Bachelor’s from the University of Dayton, where she played basketball, volleyball, and ran cross-country. She then moved to Colorado to earn her Juris Doctorate from Sturm College at the University of Denver. During her time at law school, she interned for the Attorney General; in addition, she was a law clerk for Judge Rappaport, familiarizing herself with the processes and practices of the court system. In this time, she also completed her clinic work with the Rocky Mountain Children’s Law Center, establishing her focus on children early on.