This fall, students experienced the world of law through unrivaled residencies that offered valuable insights from alumni practitioners and foremost authorities across various legal subjects.
Around Syracuse Law
College of Law Students Attend American Branch of the International Law Association’s International Law Week 2023
Twenty College of Law J.D., LL.M., and exchange students along with International Law Society faculty advisor Professor Cora True-Frost G’01, L’01 attended International Law Week 2023 in New York City. International Law Week is held by the American Branch of the International Law Society (ABILA).
In addition, Ludmilla Evelin LL.M.’23 participated as a Student Ambassador. She was selected to be an Ambassador by ABILA through a nomination process and serves for one academic year assisting with the work of the ABILA and at International Law Week.
The College of Law students took advantage of the extensive programming at International Law Week along with opportunities to network with other law students, professors, lawyers, foreign officials, and more.
“By following the ILW leaders’ goals, the conference allowed me to think about how global leaders, lawyers, and legal experts can use their creativity to tackle today’s complex issues. This includes exploring how international law connects with other areas like social movements, trade, domestic law, diplomacy, and global initiatives for peace and equality. It is about looking beyond international law,” says Evelin.
College of Law Comes Together to Honor Veterans
The week leading up to Veterans Day was full of events and activities that involved College of Law students, faculty, and staff.
Valor Day: Students from the Betty and Michael D. Wohl Veterans Legal Clinic (VLC) joined attorneys from the Volunteer Lawyers Project of CNY and Hancock Estabrook in providing free legal consultations at the CNY Veterans Expo. More than two dozen veterans and military-connected families benefited from this annual pro bono service. Professor Beth Kubala, VLC executive director, discussed the event with WSYR radio.
U.S. Army Court of Criminal Appeals (ACCA) oral arguments: The Gray Ceremonial Courtroom hosted oral arguments before the ACCA in United States v. Herman. This provided students, faculty, and staff with the opportunity to view an appellate court in action. In addition, students attended a panel discussion with U.S. Army JAG attorneys to learn about careers in the JAG.
College of Law Annual Veterans Day Ceremony: The College’s annual Veterans Day Ceremony featured Richard Naperkowski L’23, a senior research fellow at the Institute for Security Policy and Law (ISPL). Naperkowski recounted his time serving as a Captain in the U.S. Army E.O.D. The ceremony began with the S.U. Army R.O.T.C. Color Guard, followed by the national anthem sung by Otto Tunes. The Hon. James E. Baker, director of ISPL, provided opening remarks and the ceremony ended with University Professor David Driesen playing Taps.
2L Laurie Coffey Keynotes the Syracuse University Veterans Day Ceremony: Coffey, a retired U.S. Navy aviator, provided remarks about her 20 years of service flying F/A-18 Hornet and Super Hornet planes and how she is pursuing her law degree to become a litigator. She spoke at the Ceremony, organized by the Office of Veterans and Military Affairs, held at the University’s National Veterans Resource Center.
Rounding out our Veterans activities for November, the Military and Veterans Law Society is partnering with the Tully Rinckey PLLC law firm and Price Chopper to give out 125 free turkeys on Monday, November 20 to active-duty military personnel, retirees, and veterans in the Syracuse area.
College of Law Student Organizations Attend the Asian American Bar Association of New York Fall Conference
Twenty students from the College of Law’s Asian Pacific American Law Students Association (APALSA), Korean Law Students Association (KLSA), and South Asian Law Students Association (SALSA) along with Professor Mary Szto attended the Asian American Bar Association of New York’s (AABANY) Fall Conference. AABANY is the largest diverse bar association chapter in the country with several hundred people attending the fall conference.
The students participated in the Diversity Career Fair where they met with potential employers and networked with other law students and attendees. They also attended the panel discussions.
In addition, the students volunteered to help check in attendees for CLE sessions and ensure that the logistics of each session were arranged professionally for the speakers and audience.
“It was a great experience to observe and learn about public sector fields of law as well as the lives of the attorneys at the Conference as it may soon be our near future. It gave us insights into what we need to prepare for success in law school and beyond. Also, the conference provided the students with opportunities to be interviewed, network, and secure internships in the field of their interests,” says 2L Peony Teo, president of APALSA.
The conference included panels on topics ranging from becoming a judge or prosecutor, AI, affordable housing, hate crimes prosecution to wellness, and a job fair. There were also trial practice training sessions. This year the conference co-hosted the National Asian Pacific Islander Prosecutors Association (NAPIPA) 4th Annual Conference as well.
“Our students served as volunteers at the conference and were roundly complimented for their work. I want to thank the College of Law Asian American and Pacific Islander alumni and documentarian Samantha Cheng who generously supported our students to make their participation possible,” says Szto.
Marisol Estrada Cruz L’23 Recognized with an AALS Pro Bono Honor Roll Award
Marisol Estrada Cruz L’23 is a recipient of the 2nd Annual American Association of Law Schools (AALS) Pro Bono Honor Roll Award. Cruz completed 624 hours of pro bono work for the Volunteer Lawyers Project of CNY, Hiscock Legal Aid Society, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia during her three years at the College of Law. In addition, she received one of three Outstanding Pro Bono Service Awards for the Class of 2023.
The College of Law’s Pro Program, led by Dafni S. Kiritsis, Director of Externships & Career Services, is an optional graduation recognition program that recognizes law students who perform 50 or more hours of qualifying pro bono work before graduation. The College of Law collaborates with local attorneys who perform public interest work to provide professional engagement opportunities to students and to serve the community.
The AALS Pro Bono Honor Roll acknowledges and highlights the pro bono work of individuals engaging in, expanding, and/or supporting their law school community in providing pro bono legal services. For the purposes of this award, pro bono is defined as work that is primarily legal in nature, supervised by a licensed attorney (for law students), not for pay or academic credit, and of service to underserved individuals, groups, or those with barriers to access to justice.
Valor Day is Saturday, November 4 at the State Fairgrounds
Saturday, November 4
9 a.m. – Noon
CNY Veterans Expo at the New York State Fairgrounds Center of Progress Building
Local attorneys will be available to meet with veterans and their family members.
Free simple wills, powers of attorney, and advance medical directives. Free legal consultations in many areas of the law, including Family Law, Veterans Law, Tenant’s Rights, Debt, Real Estate, and Housing.
Valor Day is sponsored by the Betty and Michael D. Wohl Veterans Legal Clinic, the Volunteer Lawyers Project of CNY, and Hancock Estabrook.
Click the link to hear Professor Beth Kubala, Executive Director of the Betty and Michael D. Wohl Veterans Legal Clinic, talk about Valor Day and the involvement of College of Law students.
Email for more information.
Meet 2L Laurie Coffey, a U.S. Navy veteran who is drawing on her military experience as she navigates law school.
Sky High Ambitions
A second-year law student and Navy veteran draws on her military experience to inspire her legal future.
Any mention of the 2022 blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick brings a smile to the face of Laurie Coffey L’25, a second-year student at the Syracuse University College of Law. “I used to fly many of the routes in the movie,” says the retired U.S. Navy aviator. “Tom Cruise’s stunt pilot is a former Blue Angel, whom I’ve known for years. We went to flight school together.”
While Coffey’s military career is behind her, it still colors everything she does—from being a single parent to a full-time law student. “The Navy remains an important part of my life,” admits Coffey, who retired in 2019 as a highly decorated lieutenant commander. “It’s who I am.”
Numbers tell part of the story. Over a 20-year span, Coffey amassed more than 25 combat missions, 100 combat hours, 2,400 flight hours and 300 carrier landings (half of which were at night). She also was featured in the Emmy Award-winning PBS documentary Carrier, while deployed on USS Nimitz during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Trained on the coveted F/A-18 Hornet and Super Hornet, Coffey is Top Gun royalty. Ironic, considering that the term doesn’t stand for anything. “It’s a nickname for a naval aviation training program,” says Coffey, the recipient of a prestigious Air Medal for “heroic or meritorious achievement.”
What Hollywood rarely captures is all the training that goes into each flight. Coffey, who regularly flew six-hour missions, recalls that for every hour of flying there were four hours of planning and preparation. Each mission was then followed by a two-hour “debrief,” where the pilot analyzed anything that went wrong or not as planned.
“It’s exacting work,” admits the former flight instructor at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach. “Because it’s impossible to know all there is about combat flying, you’re always training. You never truly arrive.”
3L Joseph Marchese and Thomas Daviau Prevail Over 2Ls Suzan Elzawahry and Reanna Hughes in the Bond, Schoeneck & King PLLC Alternative Dispute Resolution Competition
The team of Joseph Marchese and Thomas Daviau prevailed over Suzan Elzawahry and Reanna Hughes in the 12th Annual Bond, Schoeneck & King PLLC Alternative Dispute Resolution Competition. The Best Advocate Award went to Joseph Marchese.
The final round judges were Brian Butler L’96, Managing Member of the Bond, Schoeneck & King PLLC Syracuse office, Professor Elizabeth August L’94, and Stephanie Hyde L’89, a business entrepreneur.
Twelve teams of two College of Law students participated in the competition with 10 volunteer judges evaluating the preliminary rounds.
The College of Law would like to thank all the judges, students, faculty, and staff who made the competition a success.
Fulfilling His Hoop Dream
2L Derrick Morris has long held an interest in the operations side of professional basketball, whether it was the salary cap, rosters, or other aspects of running a billion-dollar franchise. “Even as a little kid I paid attention to roster construction, salary cap, and more,” says Morris. Now he is well on his way to realizing his dream of being involved in the business side of professional basketball.
A key element of Morris’ path is his latest achievement: participating in the NBA Future Basketball Operations Stars Program (FBOS). FBOS provides trainees with opportunities to learn about various components of basketball operations, from industry experts and leaders. Trainees are mentored by league office executives and participate in sessions designed to spark self-awareness and highlight behaviors and skills that contribute to success within the basketball operations ecosystem.
After a successful pilot program last season, the FBOS recruited potential candidates for the September 2023 – February 2024 session. And Morris didn’t let this opportunity slip through his fingers.
“I was unaware of the program and missed the application deadline last year by two days. I bookmarked it on my computer and reached out to a couple of participants from last year who went through the program to get their experiences with it. I applied, went through the interview process, and they awarded me the opportunity,” says Morris. More than 4,500 people applied for FBOS, with only 81 being accepted into the program, or about a 1.8% acceptance rate.
The FBOS participants meet weekly remotely to receive a detailed look behind the curtain of NBA basketball operations. “We receive presentations from the leaders of various aspects of the NBA. So far, we’ve heard from NBA G League operations, international basketball operations, and scouting. Each presentation is broken into different sessions and topics.” Just like law school, there are individual and group projects to be completed.
Take the Open Shot
The FBOS program is the latest in an upward trajectory Morris has put himself on stretching back to his undergrad degree in communications and sports management from Central Michigan University where he was Intern with the men’s basketball team and a women’s basketball practice player. During the summer of 2022, he was an intern with the NBA Summer League and Sports Business Classroom. This past summer he was a Legal and Business Affairs Intern with his hometown team, the Detroit Pistons. He describes the experience as “a dream come true.”
“I was mainly involved with drafting and reviewing contracts for corporate sponsorships, reviewing the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), watching how negotiations work in pro sports, and I met professionals on the business and basketball side throughout the organization. The arena is downtown, around the corner from my brother’s house. I have so many memories there and I enjoyed my time being back in Detroit and with the Pistons.”
Prior to the Pistons, Morris externed with Syracuse Athletics in their compliance department and before that, an internship with the SU Women’s basketball team.
Other stops on the hardwood trail were at the University of Kansas where he earned a Master’s in Higher Education Administration while managing the KU Men’s Basketball team dorm (McCarthy Hall).
Playing Zone
This winding path brought Morris to the Syracuse University College of Law in 2021 for his legal studies. “I always knew that I wanted to work in professional basketball. Coming here, I thought I wanted to be an agent. I’m still not ruling that out completely,” he says.
Even as a nearly full-time law student, Morris works full-time as a Residence Director on campus, managing three dorms with more than 700 students, and supervising 15 Residence Advisors. He also teaches a First Year Seminar Course on campus.
And he is the president of the Entertainment and Sports Law Society, where he’s had the opportunity to network with a wide range of professors and professionals.
How does he juggle so many responsibilities? “It is a challenge at times, but I have learned that sacrifice is necessary for my goal. It’s all about perspective and the way I see it, being a Residence Director has given me a lot of flexibility and the opportunity to do law school and the NBA program. You must manage your time really well and you have to use the times other people don’t think about like late nights and early mornings. It’s made me so structured with my schedule and has made me a better professional with my time management and handling a lot of different things at once. “
“There’s a previous law grad, David Wagner L’10, G’10, who uses his law degree to work in NBA G League operations. He spoke to the FBOS recently and hearing his story and background and how he’s applied what he learned at the College to his current position was impressive. The most important thing for me has been to remain open. I’m not ruling out a legal counselor role with a team or operations. This opportunity was so great that I wasn’t going to pass it up. It could change the trajectory of my career.”
2L Rory Pelella Receives the Volunteer Lawyers Project of CNY Pro Bono Champion Law Student Award
2L Rory Pelella was honored with the Volunteer Lawyers Project of CNY (VLP) Pro Bono Champion Law Student Award at VLP’s recent fundraiser and pro bono celebration.
Pelella spent the past summer working in VLP’s Eviction Defense Program. She represented clients in Syracuse City Court with a student practice order and worked alongside her supervisors to prevent and/or delay evictions for people in need of legal assistance across the community.
“I came to law school because I wanted to correct the injustices I saw all around me,” Pelella said. “But I think every 1L goes through that period where you start to question if you’ve chosen the right path. It wasn’t until I started working with VLP that I realized I was exactly where I needed to be.”
Pelella has continued her work with VLP throughout the Fall semester. She spends her Friday mornings in Syracuse City Court, handling cases until completion and advocating for clients under the supervision of VLP’s attorneys.
Pelella gives a lot of credit for her award and success as a pro bono volunteer to the lawyers she works with. “This is a direct reflection of them,” she said. “The people I’ve met through VLP have taught me so much, more than any textbook I’ve ever read. None of this work is possible without them.”
In addition to volunteering at VLP, Pelella works in the College’s Disability Rights Clinic and serves as a procedural advisor to students at the university.
About the Volunteer Lawyers Project
The Volunteer Lawyers Project of CNY, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit legal aid organization that provides free legal information, assistance, and representation in civil legal matters to low-income people in Central New York. Our services are provided by staff and volunteer attorneys with the help of paralegals and law students.
Services throughout Central New York include legal issues related to housing, family, elder, LGBT* rights, immigration, debt, and economic opportunity.