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Rae Franz-Gilmore and her cat, Obi.

Rae Franz-Gilmore��didn’t��necessarily intend��to tally 573 public service hours in her three years as a Colorado Law student.��

But one opportunity led to another, and another,��and another—and now, to a��career in public service��with the Colorado��Office of the��State Public��Defender��after she graduates May 8.��

“It’s not for the faint of heart, for sure,” Franz-Gilmore said��of her decision to��advocate for the accused. “But every single person I’ve met has been so encouraging, and the attorneys around me are inspiring��me constantly.”��

As��a child,��Franz-Gilmore,��now��26,��witnessed��the legal system firsthand when her mother was incarcerated.��

“Growing up,��‘the law’��was something that happened��to��you,��not something you��participated��in under positive circumstances,” she said. “You��didn’t��have��agency��or a sense of hope, even. It was always talked about��really negatively.”��

So��it��wasn’t��until she started college at ���ӽ紫ý,��double��majoring in classics and political science, that she began to consider a career in��the��legal field��to advocate for underrepresented communities like the ones she grew up in.��

After earning her bachelor’s degree in��2022, Franz-Gilmore��worked��in Boulder��for a year before��returning to campus as a law student.��

“My freshman dorm is right across the street from the law school, so I was familiar with the area,” she said. “I knew I loved Boulder��and that our law school is exceptional."��

Despite her familiarity with��the community,��Franz-Gilmore’s��law school years offered no shortage of��opportunities��to explore new��and challenging��facets��of the��law.��

She accepted an internship��the summer after��her��1L��year with the Public Defender’s office in Colorado, learning to write��legal��memos and motions��and inspired by the impact her professional colleagues��were making.��She returned to the Public Defender’s office for the summer after her 2L year, where she��represented��indigent clients in��misdemeanor and juvenile cases under the Student Practice Act. In addition, Franz-Gilmore was a recipient of the Dan Barash Scholarship. This scholarship, established in memory of Dan Barash ’02, is awarded to a student who has demonstrated interest in criminal defense work.��

Alexa Schwartzman, Rae Franz-Gilmore and Megan Mooney stand in front of the Byron White Courthouse in Denver in March 2026 after completing oral arguments for the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.

She��also��volunteered starting her first year with the��Korey Wise Innocence Project��at Colorado Law, which provides free investigative and legal services to��individuals��serving time in Colorado prisons for crimes they did not commit.��She continued serving with KWIP��her second year while simultaneously��working as a student attorney��with the Criminal Defense��Clinic��and��served as co-president of the Public Interest Student Association.��

For the last year, she has worked with Legislation Inside, an innovative��program��within KWIP that��allows incarcerated people in Colorado to propose legislation, give testimony and provide feedback on��state law��that impacts those in custody—“a voice and perspective that we rarely get to see,” she noted.��

Her time at Colorado Law also unlocked an interest in appellate work. She��interned with the Public Defender’s appellate division and��became part of the winning team at the Rothgerber��Moot Court Competition in��2025,��a prestigious challenge judged by members of the federal and state appellate benches.��

She also worked with��Assistant��Teaching��Professor��Matthew Cushing��and only five other students in the Appellate��Advocacy��Practicum course, where��they spent eight months��working on��an actual��employment discrimination case. She��wrote an opening brief, reply brief and had the “career-defining experience” of arguing before the��United States Court of Appeals for the��10^th��Circuit in March.��

“Rae is so dedicated to public service,” Cushing said. “She worked extremely hard for her client and gave him the best possible shot of winning.”��

Several��more��steps lie between��Franz-Gilmore��and her professional career—final exams,��Commencement,��a honeymoon in England with her husband��of��nine months, Nathan Franz, and��preparing for the Colorado Bar��Exam.��

But to a student who has already��accomplished��so much,��what’s��a few more hours?��