Syracuse Law alumni help their alma mater in many ways, and in this feature we offer a few vignettes about how they have offered their time and talent over the past year—from creating scholarships, guest lecturing hosting externs, hiring graduates, and more.
We not only ask what alums are doing but why they do it. Remember, every way you contribute makes a difference for our students, not least in the personal and professional bonds that are formed among generations of Orange lawyers.
TEACHING IN THE JDI PROGRAM
A Meaningful Way
For Prashanth “PJ” Jayachandran L’98, giving back to his alma mater also meant fulfilling an aspiration to teach law. “I’ve been in private practice for close to 25 years,” says Jayachandran, Chief Supply Chain Counsel at Colgate-Palmolive Company. “I’ve done some guest lecturing and training, but I wanted to teach in a more meaningful way for some time.”
A conversation with Dean Boise led to the suggestion that Jayachandran could teach in the College’s JDinteractive online law degree program, from his home in New Jersey.
However, while talking with Associate Dean of Online Education Kathleen O’Connor, in fall 2021, they concluded that Jayachandran’s proposed class—“The Corporate Lawyer in a Sustainable World”—would be perfect for an in-person, three-day JDi residency course.
As lead counsel for Colgate-Palmolive’s global supply chain Jayachandran oversees global commercial contracting and provides advice on legal issues related to logistics, international trade, and labor. Additionally, he works closely with Colgate-Palmolive’s sustainability and responsible sourcing teams.
In introducing the JDi residency students to the “growing and evolving area” of sustainability Jayachandran touched on climate change, human rights compliance, and diversity, equity, and inclusion.
“We opened the course by telling the students that they had been hired as sustainability counsel by a fictitious public company that is launching a global sustainability program,” explains Jayachandran. “We then covered various topics related to the sustainability program, with the students split into teams to analyze and debrief on key issues. I enjoyed it immensely.”
Jayachandran says he particularly appreciated teaching JDi students whose journeys to law school are non-linear. “The students were a hard-working group, many with full-time jobs and distinguished careers, and some who traveled a long way to Syracuse, as far as from Hawaii and Europe,” he says.
Jayachandran is slated to teach the course again in spring 2022. But in fact, he again offered his expertise during Law Alumni Weekend 2021, as moderator of the Corporate Law Society panels addressing in-house counsel and corporate counsel practice.
Also sitting on the in-house counsel panel was PJ’s wife, Neena Patil, Chief Legal Officer and Senior Vice President at Jazz Pharmaceuticals, whom Jayachandran met while they both worked at the Syracuse-area law firm, Bond, Schoeneck & King.
“The panels were made up of very accomplished lawyers,” observes Jayachandran. “I hope that students feel their Syracuse law degree will offer them the same kind of opportunities to pursue success like the kind we witnessed on the panels.”
“The panelists did a good job of explaining how an in-house corporate career differs from other legal careers,” Jayachandran adds. “As an in-house lawyer, you are a business advisor with a law degree, and that point was well-made. You need a good legal skill set, but you must have the curiosity and desire to understand the business you are in.”
PJ Jayachandran L’98 (second from left) listens to student presentations during his “The Corporate Lawyer in a Sustainable World” course for JDinteractive residency students in August 2021.
Syracuse Law alumni help their alma mater in many ways, and in this feature, we offer a few vignettes about how they have offered their time and talent over the past year—from creating scholarships, guest lecturing, hosting externs, to hiring graduates, and more.
We not only ask what alums are doing but why they do it. Remember, every way you contribute makes a difference for our students, not least in the personal and professional bonds that are formed among generations of Orange lawyers.
HOSTING EXTERNS
“We all enhance each other”
The Hon. Thérèse Wiley Dancks L’91 became a United States Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of New York in 2012, and in that same year, she began working with the Office of Career Services to host externs at her chambers in downtown Syracuse.
Since the 2012-2013 academic year Judge Dancks has hosted 41 externs, including her current cohort of students, and 36 of those externs have been from Syracuse Law. The only summer she missed during that time was summer 2021, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Judge Dancks took time out of her busy schedule to discuss what externs can expect while working in her chambers, and about her rule for who buys lunch …
Why do you continue to support externship programs and host externs?
For two reasons. First, I believe all of us practicing and working in law careers have an obligation to train the next generation of lawyers. Second, it’s important that students also get practical experience. Here, they get to know the workings of the courts from backstage, so to speak, understand what goes into decision-making, learn how a good brief is written, and see what to do and—importantly—what not to do in a courtroom or chambers.
My law clerks agree with me and buy into this—including my Career Law Clerk Jill C. Levy L’05—so I credit them for their willingness to help train the next generation.
What sort of tasks do your externs perform?
When we have a new cohort of externs coming in, I will talk with my clerks about cases that are coming up or that are fully briefed and ready for decisions. We then try to start the externs off with distinct projects such as a discreet issue within a larger motion.
After that, we’ll give them a larger project within a case, such as a civil rights matter or social security appeal. My clerks will oversee and check the externs’ work by assisting them with organizational structure, legal reasoning, supportive authority, and other revisions before it comes to me. Our goal is to help the students improve their written and analytical skills.
Giving back in another way, the Hon. Thérèse Wiley Dancks L’91 (seated, far right) took part in a Women’s Law Student Association networking event during Law Alumni Weekend 2021.
How many hours do your externs typically work?
Summer externs might be here for as many as 40 hours a week, with academic year externs putting in about 12 hours a week. We want them to get a substantive practical education. We’ll bring them along slowly at first, but by the end of their time with us, they may have worked on two or more full case motions, under supervision from my clerks.
I also encourage the externs to watch proceedings in other courts and see what other judges are doing. You learn a lot by observing. I know I did. The students do great. I have rarely been disappointed.
Do you keep in touch with former externs?
I keep a list of all of them, and I follow their careers to cheer them on and let them know they are not alone. When externs work in my chambers, they know my door is always open, and they can ask me anything about work, career, school, and life.
I also always invite students to stay in touch as they progress through their careers. Some stay in touch regularly, and others pop up every now and then to fill me in on their lives. It is very gratifying to know I played some small part in their legal education, and I love to see them succeed.
Mentoring young lawyers is so important to keeping our profession civil and respected, and in the long run, to help uphold the rule of law.
So, what is your special rule about who buys lunch?
One rule in my chambers is that no student is ever allowed to pay for their lunch when we get take-out or go out as a group. I know the students are on budgets, so I just ask that they plan to do the same for a student somewhere down the road in their careers. This goes for mentoring too when they are at a place in their careers to do so. I tell them that we all enhance each other with our successes, so it is important for them to help other Orange alums succeed.
Have any of your externs returned to you as clerks?
None yet, but some have become clerks for other judges. We train them well for someone else, I guess! I know that they are much more attractive as clerks because they have seen what goes on in chambers and the backrooms of courts.
Syracuse Law alumni help their alma mater in many ways, and in this feature, we offer a few vignettes about how they have offered their time and talent over the past year—from creating scholarships, guest lecturing, hosting externs, to hiring graduates, and more.
We not only ask what alums are doing but why they do it. Remember, every way you contribute makes a difference for our students, not least in the personal and professional bonds that are formed among generations of Orange lawyers.
CREATING A SCHOLARSHIP
Giving Students an Edge
W. Carroll “Nick” Coyne ’54, L’57 and Art Lussi L’88.
The August 2021 Syracuse University obituary of alumnus W. Carroll “Nick” Coyne ’54, L’57 illustrates the twin passions of the late University Life Trustee, who was a labor relations attorney for more than 40 years at Hancock & Estabrook LLP.
A baseball and basketball letterman, who was honored with the 1977 Letter Winner of Distinction Award, Coyne loved sports and he loved the Orange. These passions helped spark a life-long friendship with fellow law school alum and athlete Art Lussi L’88.
Now, Lussi has memorialized their long friendship by creating an academic scholarship in Coyne’s name, for deserving students entering Orange Edge, Syracuse’s summer pre-law program.
Lussi, the President of Crowne Plaza Lake Placid, first got to know Coyne in the Adirondack resort town. Coyne’s daughter Christina ’94 played tennis with Lussi’s younger sister, and the Coynes would often stay in an area lodge. Lussi was an avid ski-racer “and Nick knew that my competitive spirit would serve me well if I gained admission to the law school.”
However, Lussi admits that his undergraduate studies at Dartmouth College had taken a back seat to his skiing career, so to give him a jumpstart on law school, Coyne encouraged him to enroll in the Law Education Opportunity (LEO) Program, the predecessor to Orange Edge. “LEO was a six-week summer course then, and if you passed it, you were admitted into the 1L year,” recalls Lussi. “The course helped you to prove that you could hang with the regular admits, and it gave me the confidence that I could survive academically and do well as a law student.”
“Emil Rossi L’72 and the late Samuel Donnelly taught my course,” Lussi continues. “Both of them got you thinking like a lawyer. Donnelly in particular was instrumental because he knew many of the LEO students were intimidated. He was a brilliant person, and we became good friends.”
In addition to motivating Lussi to apply for law school, Coyne encouraged him in other ways. “I continued to ski-race while in law school, and Nick was a big supporter of staying athletically involved as well as academically involved.”
And when it came to Lussi’s career, Coyne inspired him to use his legal training to get deeply involved in his community. “He encouraged me to broaden my legal horizons, so I became an Adirondack Park Agency commissioner, and later I joined the Olympic Regional Development Authority. Nick was a big fan of Lake Placid’s Olympic facilities.”
Adds Lussi, “I miss Nick’s company at football, basketball, and lacrosse games, my perfect study breaks during law school. I hope the recipients of this Orange Edge scholarship continue the tradition of studying hard and cheering hard for the Orange.”
Art Lussi L’88 racing at the Vail Alpine Slalom Championship in 1989, which he won.
Syracuse Law alumni help their alma mater in many ways, and in this feature, we offer a few vignettes about how they have offered their time and talent over the past year—from creating scholarships, guest lecturing, to hosting externs, to hiring graduates, and more.
We not only ask what alums are doing but why they do it. Remember, every way you contribute makes a difference for our students, not least in the personal and professional bonds that are formed among generations of Orange lawyers.
CREATING FELLOWSHIPS
Supporting Careers in Social Justice Law
Marty Feinman L’83 visits Professor Lauryn Gouldin’s Criminal Justice Reform Seminar in October 2021.
Marty Feinman L’83, Director of Juvenile Justice Training, The Legal Aid Society, is shown visiting Dineen Hall in October 2021, where he had lunch with the executive board of the Syracuse Public Interest Network, met with students interested in public interest law careers through a dedicated “office hour,” and later visited Professor Lauryn Gouldin’s Criminal Justice Reform Seminar to discuss the evolving world of juvenile justice.
Feinman has more than 30 years of experience in the field of social and juvenile justice, advocating for children and families, defending indigent adults, training young attorneys, and advising policymakers.
For many years, he has supported student exploration of careers in public interest law careers through the Children’s Rights and Family Law Clinic and the Syracuse Public Interest Network, by encouraging The Legal Aid Society to host Syracuse interns and externs and to hire graduates, and in recent years by funding fellowships to help build a deeper bench of advocates for the field.
In addition to continuing his direct interactions with students as a mentor and guest lecturer, in fall 2021 Feinman will endow a special fellowship fund to support students who wish to pursue a career in the field he has so passionately represented.
Specifically, distributions from the fund will make available, on an annual basis, three fellowships in support of students who wish to pursue a career in public interest and who demonstrate a commitment to the field with a focus on criminal defense on behalf of indigent persons and juvenile justice. The annual Feinman Fellowship Awards seek to build the field by reducing the impact of the financial barriers an externship or job in certain positions present.
Two awards of $2,500 will be conferred to 3L students who select for their externship a public interest or public service position, and a postgraduate fellowship award of $5,000 will be made to a graduating student who chooses in their final spring semester to pursue and accept postgraduate employment in the field.
In considering applications, preference will be given to students who secure an externship doing (a) criminal defense work on behalf of indigent persons; and/or (b) legal advocacy on behalf of children in the juvenile justice system or direct representation of children in the welfare system; and/or (c) legal policy or research promoting criminal and/or juvenile justice reform on behalf of an organization whose mission it is to represent the rights of those populations.
As Feinman told Syracuse Law magazine in November 2020, “Social justice law work can be intimidating and emotionally overwhelming, but on the flip side, it’s just so extraordinarily rewarding. You are engaged in work that can be life-saving and difference-making.” With this new endowed fund, he is betting on Syracuse Law students to continue the important work of representing our most vulnerable populations and ensuring their equal access to justice.
Our alumni family’s generosity continues to drive Syracuse Law’s success, enabling us to offer a forward-leaning legal education, recruit and retain the best and brightest students and an outstanding faculty, and build upon our traditions and strengths.
We couldn’t do it without you. Thanks to your gifts, each year we have new philanthropic successes to report:
During a global pandemic that tested us all, we exceeded our overall fundraising goal by more than $1 million, and we saw increased giving to our priority funds: the Law Annual Fund and the Scholarship and Financial Aid Fund.
We also successfully endowed new scholarship funds, including the Syracuse Black Law Alumni Collective William H. Johnson L’1903 Endowed Scholarship—named in honor of the College’s first African American graduate—and the Deborah and Sherman F. Levey ’57, L’59 Endowed Scholarship. These two new funds represent a landmark step in our continued efforts toward increased diversity, for our law school and the legal profession at large.
Moreover, our alumni consistently lead the University in giving participation when compared to their Orange peers and continue to lead the University in Forever Orange campaign participation. Our alumni family has much to be proud of!
In this chart, we highlight the top 10 classes by giving participation for the Fiscal Year 2021, as well as the top classes by giving participation for each decade. Congratulations and thanks to these classes for their outstanding contributions!
Our alumni’s generosity underwrites the College of Law’s success. For many alumni, a tradition of lifelong giving is often tied to personal stories and fond memories of their alma mater. And what better time to reflect on their College of Law days than on the occasion of a class anniversary!
Here, alums celebrating years ending in one share their philanthropic journeys. Tell us yours by emailing us at SULaw@syr.edu.
Barry Slotnick is a partner and Chair of the Intellectual Property and Entertainment Practice Group at New York City-based Loeb & Loeb LLP. His areas of focus include copyright, rights of privacy, and publicity and entertainment law. He is also a member of the board of the Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts.
What inspired you to study law?
As a kid, I had a propensity and a talent for arguing with people. I was also terrible in math and science, so med school was out of the question!
What brought you to Syracuse Law?
I chose to attend SU because of the quality of education it offered. I also had friends who were at or were going to the College of Law, which was a draw, and I received a scholarship.
What law school memories stand out?
I recall feeling totally lost and overwhelmed during the first few weeks of law school. That feeling eventually went away. Now, if I have such feelings—and they still do come back on occasion—I just ask an associate to give me the answer I am looking for!
Did you attend the most recent reunion?
I did not get to attend the 50th reunion because of COVID-19. I’m really not sure I wanted to see how old everyone else got! I find it hard to imagine it’s been 50 years. The time went by so quickly, but time flies when you are having fun.
Did a particular law professor have a lasting impact?
Professor Thomas Maroney L’63 seemed to really love what he was doing. He taught at the school for 43 years.
Why is philanthropy important to you personally?
I started giving to the school a few years after graduation. It would have been difficult for me to attend law school without the financial assistance I was given. I also try to give my time, because of the mentoring I received both at school and once I began practicing. How could I not do the same for the next generation?
Do you have a message to recent graduates about giving back?
My advice is to do what you can. Make an effort and stay involved.
Our alumni’s generosity underwrites the College of Law’s success. For many alumni, a tradition of lifelong giving is often tied to personal stories and fond memories of their alma mater. And what better time to reflect on their College of Law days than on the occasion of a class anniversary!
Here, alums celebrating years ending in one share their philanthropic journeys. Tell us yours by emailing us at SULaw@syr.edu.
The Hon. Carl J. Mugglin practiced general law and served as a confidential law secretary to a judge and one term as Delaware County District Attorney. In 1985, he was elected a Supreme Court Justice for the Sixth Judicial District and was re-elected in 1999. He retired from the bench in 2007.
What inspired you to study law?
From 1954 to 1958 I was enrolled in the Syracuse University School of Business Administration. During this time, I took several courses in political science at the Maxwell School, and as a result of these studies, I was inspired to apply to law school. I scored well on the law aptitude exam and was accepted at the University of Chicago Law School.
Then why study at the College of Law?
When I found out that my wife, who was entering her senior year at SU, could only transfer enough credits to be a second-semester freshman at Chicago, I went to visit Syracuse’s law school dean. This was about two weeks prior to the fall semester. He accepted my verbal application, and he enrolled me that day.
What part of law school made a lasting impact?
My memories of law school revolve around long hours of studying, which I came to see as good preparation for private practice, and the different methods of instruction used by the professors. This ranges from the instillation of fear of failure to friendly helpfulness, which was good preparation for trial practice.
Looking back, what are some career highlights?
After graduation, I worked for a firm in Endicott, NY, for about one year. I then returned to my hometown of Walton, NY, where I engaged in general practice until January 1986. During this time, I held two part-time positions. I was the District Attorney of Delaware County from 1965 to 1967, and I was a law clerk for a Supreme Court Justice from 1973 to 1979. In November 1985, I was elected as a Justice of the Supreme Court for the State of New York. I served on the trial bench for 13 and a half years and on the Appellate Division, Third Department, for eight and a half years, retiring at the end of 2007 at the age of 70.
Why is giving back important to you?
Philanthropy has always been an important part of my life, particularly when it comes to supporting those institutions or organizations that are not supported by tax dollars and that have been helpful or meaningful to me. Thus, I have been generous in my support of my church, the Boy Scouts, the local hospital, the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and the College of Law.
Do you have a message to recent graduates about giving back?
Obviously, I could not have had the very enjoyable career that I did have without the education provided by Syracuse. I encourage all Syracuse Law graduates to remember their own careers and to give as generously as possible on an annual basis.
You don’t need me to tell you that so much has changed in legal education during the last year, let alone the last five years that Dean Boise has been at the helm of our College of Law.
When I think about the adaptation that law schools and other institutions of higher learning have had to make during the pandemic, I cannot help but take pride in knowing many of them turned to Syracuse as a leader in that realm.
Frankly, it’s easy to see why. For one, JDinteractive has set the bar for the future of legal education. The growth of our online option for a J.D. has been phenomenal, from hosting 32 students in the first cohort in 2019—who will graduate this coming spring!—to 97 students this year.
Witness also the continued expansion of international programs, which under the stewardship of Assistant Dean of International Programs Andrew Horsfall L’10 saw the largest matriculating LL.M. class in 2021, along with the development of groundbreaking partnerships such as the 3+3 Program with Historically Black Colleges and Universities in Atlanta.
“How can you help young alumni land that first job or make the transition to a more meaningful career path?”
Additionally, Dean Boise’s promotion of Professor Suzette Meléndez as the law school’s first-ever Associate Dean for Equity and Inclusion speaks to the College’s commitment to equity and inclusion. So does the College of Law’s agreement with AccessLex Institute to offer a robust bar preparation program free of charge and ensure that all students have the tools they need to pass the bar exam upon graduation.
I am delighted to see the expansion of these and other opportunities for our current and future students. The growth of opportunities is so critical not only for their success but also for ours as an institution. The Syracuse University Law Alumni Association has been busy, too. See how you can help:
In April, outraged by the torrent of anti-Asian racism and acts of violence around the country, SULAA issued a statement in solidarity to stop Asian hate and called on all alumni to condemn the discrimination and xenophobia.
My question to our alumni family is: How can we use our influence to take a stand for justice and healing?
In May, SULAA welcomed the Class of 2021 to our alumni family. Like the Class of 2020, these graduates faced remarkable circumstances, including the inability to celebrate together in person their hard-earned accomplishment of graduating from law school and having to take socially distanced remote bar exams. We are proud of their accomplishments and look forward to their impacts on the legal profession, their communities, and our law school. We also recognize the challenge of launching a career is far from over.
How can you help young alumni land that first job or make the transition to a more meaningful career path?
In June, SULAA hosted “Tips for Tackling a Remote Bar Exam,” a special panel discussion for the Class of 2021 featuring Aubre Dean L’20, Natalie Switzer Maier L’20, and Delaney Rose Moore L’20, organized and moderated by Lauren Blau L’17.
What experiences can you share with fellow alumni to help smooth the path for those who follow in your footsteps?
Also in June, SULAA welcomed six accomplished alumni to its Board of Directors: Sonia Worrell Asare L’06, BreAnna Avery L’17, Brittany Jones L’14, Benita Miller L’96, Sean Palmer L’01, and Kathleen Turland L’95. Additionally, throughout the year, we have welcomed alumni participation across our many committees and initiatives.
There are many ways to get involved in our alumni network—how will you participate?
In September, SULAA, the SULAA Inclusion Network, and the College honored eight distinguished alumni and faculty during the annual Syracuse Law Honors and Alumni of Color awards ceremonies during Law Alumni Weekend. They included Seuk Joon Lee L’99as the inaugural recipient of the Asian Pacific Island Legacy of Excellence Award. This award would not have been possible without the vision and leadership of SULAA Board Members Kimberly Lau L’06 and Astrid Quiñones L’18, Professor Mary Szto, and the student leaders of the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, the Korean Law Students Association, and the South Asian Law Students Association. Nominations for next year’s recipients are already being received (email Director of Alumni Relations Melissa Cassidy at mpcassid@syr.edu to learn more).
How will you reconnect and reengage with the law school and your former classmates?
In October, building on the success of our partnership in 2020, SULAA and the College of Law Board of Advisors launched another dollar-for-dollar fundraising challenge, to match the first $10,000 donated by law alumni during Boost the ’Cuse.
Which College of Law programs or initiatives will you support through your financial generosity?
SULAA is committed to engaging and empowering our alumni through communication, knowledge, and resources. How would you like to see SULAA advance our mission of linking the past, present, and future of our College of Law family? I don’t ask these questions rhetorically. On the contrary, I welcome your input and participation. SULAA is your law alumni association (remember, all alumni become members upon graduation).
If you have not done so already, please join the conversation on our LinkedIn page (search for Syracuse University Law Alumni Association), and please don’t hesitate to reach out to any Board member at any time. We would love to hear from you.
Go Orange,
Mark O’Brien L’14 President, Syracuse University Law Alumni Association
Elected for a fourth term in the US House of Representatives in November 2020, Rep. John Katko L’88 serves New York’s 24th Congressional District, which includes all of Onondaga, Cayuga, and Wayne counties, as well as the western portion of Oswego County in Central New York.
Currently, Congressman Katko is Ranking Member on the House Committee on Homeland Security—leveraging his years as a federal prosecutor litigating narcotics and gang cases—as well as a member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
Serving as a Congressman is the latest position in a distinguished public service career for the Central New York native. Today, Congressman Katko resides in Camillus with his wife, Robin, a registered nurse, and is the proud father of Sean (currently a second lieutenant in the US Army), Logan, and Liam.
After earning degrees from Niagara University and the College of Law, Congressman Katko began his career at Washington, DC, firm Howrey & Simon. He then worked at the US Securities and Exchange Commission before becoming an Assistant US Attorney for the US Department of Justice, serving as Special Assistant US Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia and with the DOJ’s Criminal Division, Narcotics and Dangerous Drug Section. In this capacity, he served as a Senior Trial Attorney on the US-Mexico border in El Paso, TX, and in San Juan, PR.
“It’s clear that the College provided both President Biden and me with a high-quality education that we’ve relied on for our successes.”
Later, Congressman Katko returned to Central New York as a federal organized crime prosecutor in Syracuse for the US Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of New York, spearheading high-level narcotics prosecutions.
Throughout his 20 year career as a federal prosecutor, Congressman Katko was repeatedly tapped to train prosecutors in Central and South America, Eastern Europe, and Russia. He also was selected to serve as the only foreign prosecutor to lead an investigation and prosecution of government troops in Albania who shot and killed numerous protestors. He was awarded top prosecutor awards by three different Attorney Generals.
Notably, in the mid-2000s, Congressman Katko led the Syracuse Gang Violence Task Force, which employed the Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act, along with other federal statutes, to prosecute gang-related crime in the city. Between 2003 and 2012, the Task Force prosecuted 90 suspected members of six Syracuse street gangs.
While first running for Congress in 2014, Congressman Katko referred to his work breaking up Syracuse gang violence in a Syracuse Post-Standard interview: “If I can get gang bangers to cooperate, I can certainly work with the knuckleheads in Washington and help them straighten things out.”
We recently caught up with Congressman Katko to ask him about his service to his community and the nation, how Syracuse Law prepared him for life as a prosecutor and Congressman, and what it takes to lead in Washington, DC, in the midst of a highly partisan atmosphere.
What led you to pursue a law degree at Syracuse Law? As a student, I quickly developed an interest in public service and found that I enjoyed working on issues that supported my community and our nation. That, combined with the appreciation I always had for Syracuse University growing up, sort of instinctively led me back to the College of Law after my undergraduate degree, and that turned out to be a great decision.
When did you know you wanted to be a federal prosecutor and later seek public office? I still remember the first time I was at the podium while serving at the US Securities and Exchange Commission and was introduced as “John Katko on behalf of the United States of America.” That was the moment where everything clicked for me, and I knew what I wanted to do.
How did Syracuse Law prepare you to become a federal prosecutor? I remember how fired up I would get for trial practice classes, and how much that feeling stuck with me. Those classes really prepared me to pursue a career as a prosecutor.
Why is public service important to you, and what should the public understand about the role of public servants in a democracy? As a federal prosecutor, it was drilled into your head to always be non-political and to only look at the facts. Integrity and ethics always came first and foremost, and it was important to remember that I was in that role to seek justice, not just to win cases.
Those principles date back to my earliest classes at Syracuse Law. It was hammered into our heads as students that upholding the law is a tremendous responsibility to be entrusted with, and therefore we have to be as objective as possible in every decision we make.
Now, as a member of Congress, I still make every decision by analyzing the facts and assessing the evidence in front of me. Sometimes, that leads to a choice that’s not popular with everyone, but ultimately, I’m here to do what’s right.
Many alumni serve the public—from your perspective, is that a coincidence or the result of a Syracuse Law education? Syracuse provides a lot of opportunities to serve our communities, such as the legal clinics and other chances to deliver pro bono service to give back and make a difference. I learned very quickly that there was a lot of good that someone could do with a law degree, and you could tell the College of Law deliberately worked to instill this lesson in us.
All Syracuse Law students should know that it’s a distinct honor to serve the public and to realize our ability to have a positive impact on society. There’s no better reward than being able to help people and feel good about the work done along the way.
In your opinion, what makes a good leader? How do these skills relate to your work as a Congressman? People have to recognize when they don’t have all the answers and learn to value other sides of an argument. In Congress, I interact with a lot of different opinions on just about every issue imaginable. Whether I’m listening to constituents or working on a bill with members of Congress representing different districts across the country, I always want to keep an open mind and find ways to make compromises.
I’ve been fortunate enough to be elected to Washington, DC, and to advocate for policies that help my district. It turns out that writing off half your colleagues as enemies isn’t the most effective strategy to get this done, so I’ve been willing to work with anyone, regardless of party, who shares my concern for an issue.
Rep. John Katko L’88 meets with Washington, DC, externs in November 2019.
What are your thoughts on a fellow alum being elected President while you are serving in Congress? I’m proud of our school. It’s clear that the College provided both President Biden and me with a high-quality education that we’ve relied on for our successes. It’s exciting to see that we’re just two of the many distinguished alumni who have come out of Syracuse Law, and I hope the school continues the tradition of providing a superb education that helps students do good in the world.
How would you define your legacy in public service? I’m a normal guy who’s been granted some extraordinary responsibilities in my life. I guess I want to be remembered as someone who never let these get to his head and as someone who used his good fortune to give back to the community he grew up in and loved.
Last year, we celebrated the 125th anniversary of the founding of the College of Law. Although we all had the opportunity to celebrate and recognize the many achievements of the College over those 125 years, for many it remained a time of anxiety, stress, and uncertainty.
While much has changed over the past year, issues that challenged us then continue to evolve even as new issues have arisen. Not surprisingly, the College has met them head-on.
For example, historical shortcomings in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) among our political, civic, legal, and other institutions are in sharper focus. Recognizing the impact a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment can have, the College launched a cultural competency curriculum this Fall. Residential and online students will be required to take a cultural-competency course as a requirement for graduation. This effort will expand and deepen as the College community works to better understand the role of DEI in legal education and beyond.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has been the stuff of science fiction for many years. More recently, it has become a focus of the College’s Institute for Security Policy and Law (SPL). National security decision-making long has been the province of human effort. Increasingly, however, AI not merely supports those efforts but, in fact, it may supplant those efforts. SPL explores the legal and policy boundaries between the benefits provided by AI and the need for human (ethical) control.
“I am especially proud that the College is now ranked #11 nationally in Trial Advocacy by U.S. News and World Report.”
As the College continues to rise to meet existing and new challenges, it continues to deliver high-quality legal education. Faculty are always advancing their knowledge in their respective fields through teaching and writing, generating an extraordinary number of scholarly books and other publications.
Bolstered by externship opportunities, the College’s clinics offer proving grounds for our students who deliver much needed representation across the disciplines of bankruptcy law, criminal defense law, disability law, tax law, transactional law, and veterans law—and who gain meaningful practical skills as student attorneys.
Finally, the Advocacy Program provides extensive and rigorous opportunities for students to develop their trial, appellate, and negotiation skills. I am especially proud that the College is now ranked #11 nationally in Trial Advocacy by U.S. News and World Report.
What the College is today and where it will go in the future is in no small measure driven by the engagement and support of the alumni and friends of the College. Your generosity enables us to lean into the challenges that lie ahead. On behalf of the Board of Advisors, faculty, and students, I thank you for your support and hope that you’ll remain engaged with your alma mater well into the future.
