Brian T. Ruocco

Brian T. Ruocco teaches a seminar on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Law. The course addresses the constitutional and statutory laws that affect the LGBTQ+ community, and how those laws shape sex and gender for people across the United States.

In practice, Brian is a senior associate at Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, where he represents clients in high-exposure commercial, white collar, product liability, and mass tort litigation. He has represented clients in federal and state courts across the country, cross-examined fact and expert witnesses at trial, and deposed more than forty witnesses or parties. His pro bono practice spans civil rights, prisoner rights, family law, and asylum.

Before joining Faegre Drinker, Brian clerked for the Honorable Kevin McNulty of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey and the Honorable Ronald Gilman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He earned his J.D., magna cum laude and Order of the Coif, from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he was Executive Editor of the University of Pennsylvania Law Review. He also holds a Wharton Certificate in Management. He received his B.A. in Government, with distinction and Phi Beta Kappa, from Cornell University.

He serves as co-chair of the Legal Aid Foundation of Colorado’s Associates Advisory Board. His teaching career began before law school, when he spent three years as a special education teacher through Teach For America and with a KIPP charter school.