Suzanna Moran

Professor Moran brings to Denver Law a wealth of experience in litigation, transactional work, and regulatory work, primarily in the fields of environmental law and entertainment law, as well as an extensive background in professional writing and editing.

Professor Moran began her career at the Environmental Law Institute in Washington, D.C., —one of the nation’s premiere environmental law think tanks—where she was a staff attorney writing and editing The Environmental Law Reporter.

After four years in Washington, Professor Moran moved to Denver, where she practiced law for two years with Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll—a national Tier 1 firm—and then for six more years with the boutique environmental law firm of Fognani & Associates. She represented both plaintiffs and defendants in a variety of high-stakes, high-profile litigation matters primarily in environmental law and related areas, many of which were valued in the millions to hundreds of millions of dollars. She also represented her corporate clients in transactional matters with environmental implications and routinely counseled them on regulatory compliance and permitting matters.

Professor Moran then returned to her first love, arts and entertainment, becoming Director of Publications at the Denver Art Museum. In that position she was responsible for the editorial content and quality of the museum’s written materials and frequently counseled the Museum on copyright and other intellectual property issues.

Professor Moran left the Denver Art Museum to join Denver Law, fulfilling her life-long dream of becoming a teacher. As a teacher, she is known for her kindness and compassion as well as her thoroughness, rigor, and high expectations of her students. She primarily teaches the year-long first-year Lawyering Process course, training her students to research, analyze, communicate, and argue legal issues in a client-centered context. She has also taught environmental law and now teaches entertainment law, focusing on the music industry.

As an entertainment law practitioner, Professor Moran focuses on representing creatives in contractual matters and protecting their intellectual rights in a wide variety of contexts. Professor Moran’s entertainment law focus is inspired by her non-legal background in the musical, visual, and literary arts. In addition to her work for the Denver Art Museum, she writes fiction and has played viola since the age of 11. She frequently performs with the Jefferson Symphony Orchestra, an organization for which she served on the Board of Directors for many years.

“When you are faced with tough choices as a lawyer, remember that there are two things you’ll never regret: being kind and being honest.”

View CV

• JD, Environmental Law, The University of Michigan, 1992
• MS, Natural Resources Policy and Planning, The University of Michigan Rackham School of Graduate Studies, 1992
• BA, Plan II, The University of Texas, 1989

• Bar Admission