Judge Pallares was appointed to the Denver County Court bench by Mayor Michael B. Hancock and was sworn in on November 2, 2017. She received her undergraduate degree from Boston University where she graduated magna cum laude. Judge Pallares earned her law degree from the University of Colorado School of Law where she was a Kutak Rock Scholarship Recipient, and a Berenbaum Weinshienk & Eason Scholarship Recipient. She was the Casenote and Comment Editor for the Colorado Journal of International Environmental Law & Policy, and the Assistant Editor the Chinese Journal of International Law.
Judge Pallares began her practice in Colorado as a judicial intern for Federal District Court Judge Daniel B. Sparr and as a judicial law clerk for the Hon. Michael A. Martinez, currently the Chief Judge for Denver District Court.
Prior to her appointment, Judge Pallares served the citizens of Denver as the Chief Deputy District Attorney for the office’s Sexual Assault Unit. As a Sexual Assault Prosecutor Specialist, she led efforts to evaluate the quality of sexual assault prosecution to align with national best practices, as well as train and collaborate with law enforcement and community partners to improve victim services to sexual assault victims in the City and County of Denver. Judge Pallares also conducted trainings for prosecutors, educational administrators, victims service agencies and law enforcement to ensure national best practices were met and exceeded. In the Denver District Attorney’s Office, Judge Pallares served as a Deputy District Attorney and Senior Deputy District Attorney where she was assigned to Denver County Court, Denver Juvenile Court, Denver District Court, and as part of the Family Violence Unit.
Judge Pallares has been a member of numerous professional organizations, including the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Colorado, the Colorado Hispanic Bar Association, the Colorado Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Bar Association, the Colorado Women’s Bar Association, the Sam Cary Bar Association and the South Asian Bar Association of Colorado. She is currently an At-Large Director of the Colorado Hispanic Bar Association.