Jude Ziliak L’28 recalls the favorite part of his spring 2026 externship was when the Hon. Stewart D. Aaron L’83, magistrate judge for the Southern District of New York, would walk through the door and say, “Take a half hour to see if you can answer this question I’ve been thinking about.”
“Judge Aaron is rapid fire, always making you think,” says Ziliak, who is a 2L in Syracuse University College of Law’s JDinteractive (JDi) program. “He is a generous mentor to the people who work in his chamber, and I learned so much from how he comported himself with parties within settlement conferences and criminal arraignments. He was always very civil, respectful, and personable, which was inspiring to me. He made me feel very optimistic about my future.”
From the day Ziliak started his externship for Aaron, he had to be on his toes. “When I arrived on the first day, I was handed a large packet of papers and told to read and start research for a draft report and recommendation. I was happy to be entrusted with substantive research and writing on complex civil matters and eager to learn how chambers approaches legal questions, litigants, and the judicial role,” he explained.
Over the next several months, Ziliak worked on complex civil cases involving a variety of claims that were invaluable exercises in research and writing.
“It was a very rewarding opportunity, and I walked away being able to apply so much of what I learned during that externship,” he says.
Helping others: “A great way to go about my day”
Ziliak’s decision to start law school was a careful one. With a Master of Music in violin performance from Rice University and a graduate diploma in historical performance from the Juilliard School, he is a working violinist and also on the faculty at two New York City public schools, working with gifted violinists. Prior to enrolling in the JDi program, Ziliak was also performing in about 90 concerts a year, traveling to different cities.
However, he had done some collective bargaining through the musicians union and also advocated for disability rights within the New York City public school system, which attracted him to legal work.
“Both of these experiences galvanized my interest in attending law school,” Ziliak explains. “I thought helping others through the law would be a great way to go about my day.”
JDi’s flexibility, camaraderie set the tone
Ziliak considered going to a residential law program in New York City, but he and his wife had just had their second child, so he thought an online program would make more sense.
Now in his second year in the JDi program, he has cut back to 15 or 20 concerts a year, while also maintaining his faculty position, his family commitments, and the rigorous demands of law school. He appreciates the camaraderie and support of others in his JDi cohort, who are also juggling their professions and passions while earning their law degrees.
