Ms. Ruocco began her career practicing immigration law before the United States Department of Justice courts.  She transitioned into local government as a civil litigator, Assistant City Solicitor, and prosecutor, Assistant State's Attorney, for the City of Baltimore, then on to state government as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Maryland where she focused on complex civil litigation and transactional matters for her client, the Port of Baltimore.  Ms. Ruocco swapped coasts, where here in Oregon, she has served as an Administrative Law Judge at the Office of Administrative Hearings for the State of Oregon as well as the Presiding Municipal Court Judge for the City of Bend.  She earned her J.D. at the University of Maryland School of Law and Master's in Government at Johns Hopkins University.

Throughout her 20+ year legal career, Ms. Ruocco has taught in higher education, including as faculty for courses in Constitution Law, Civil Liberties, and Legal Reasoning and Writing at the undergraduate level and as a Clinical Instructor and Student-Attorney Mentor in the Community Justice Clinic at the University of Maryland School of Law.  Ms. Ruocco deeply enjoys teaching and mentoring the next generation of attorneys and legal advocates to be ethically-centered and uphold the highest standards of professional conduct, and enjoys using her passions for access to justice and the rule of law to assist University of Oregon School of Law students on their paths to success.  At Oregon Law, Ms. Ruocco leads initiatives focused on preparing students to become practice-ready and license-ready attorneys.   Her work centers on developing innovative curricular strategies that integrate doctrinal knowledge with practical skills, grounded in time-tested educational methodologies.  She collaborates with faculty to embed professional identity formation, applied learning, and assessment into the curriculum—ensuring that Oregon graduates are not only ready to pass the bar, but also to meet the real-world demands of ethical, effective lawyering.

Outside of the courtroom and classroom, Ms. Ruocco takes an active role in the Bar.  She is appointed by the Oregon Supreme Court as a Mentor Attorney for the New Lawyers Program where she guides newly minted attorneys through a year-long series of professionalism and experiential based exercises to help them transition to the practice of law.  She is also appointed by the Oregon Supreme Court to the Oregon State Bar's Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee.  In this role, Ms. Ruocco acts as a volunteer attorney to investigate complaints and recommend actions regarding the unauthorized practice of law across the state.

Ms. Ruocco acts as a consultant to Oregon courts regarding best practices in court administration and management.  She regularly lectures and presents at the Oregon Judge's Association in the areas of court administration and professionalism.