What type of pro bono legal service(s) have you performed?
I spent a summer interning in the Criminal Appeals Department at Hiscock Legal Aid, where I drafted briefs, motions, memos, and correspondence on behalf of incarcerated clients to protect their rights throughout every stage of litigation. Last semester, I participated in the SU Criminal Defense Law Clinic, and I enjoyed it so much that I returned this semester as a Clinic II student. Through the clinic, I’ve had the opportunity to represent real clients in Syracuse City Court, handling misdemeanor and violation cases from arraignment to disposition.
What benefits did you experience from doing this work?
These experiences confirmed that I want to build a career in public defense. They’ve given me meaningful courtroom experience before graduation and connected me with mentors who have shaped my career goals.
What would you say to other law students considering pro bono work? Why would you recommend it to others?
I encourage every law student to pursue pro bono work, especially through the clinics. There is no better way to learn than by doing, and no better use of our training than to serve communities who are too often overlooked by the legal system.
An entrepreneurial spirit, fascination with technology and interest in the law has taken Kevin Whittaker L’02 on a career path that has brought him to the heart of Silicon Valley, giving him the opportunity to contribute to complex legal issues that disruptive technology like artificial intelligence (AI) and big data has brought to businesses around the globe.
Whittaker has been an entrepreneur since he started selling candy at a profit to classmates in high school and college. While studying at Syracuse University College of Law, he convinced the law school to allow him to take some fashion design classes at the University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts. This led to him creating a line of T-shirts that eventually morphed into Blue Bunney Couture, a men’s neckwear line that kept Whittaker busy as a fashion designer for 10 years after graduating from Syracuse Law. At the same time, he was also practicing law.
Whittaker worked for several large firms on the West Coast, including Faegre Drinker; Reed Smith LLP; Baker McKenzie; and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, where he found a real interest in defending and counseling tech companies in complex employment, financing and corporate matters.
Along the way, he met Alex Fielding and his team. Fielding is a group serial entrepreneur and founder of Ripcord Inc., a Silicon Valley-based company he started out of NASA technology with the mission to robotically extract meaningful data from mountains of paper records and digital documents that exist around the world.
Whittaker was fascinated by the work Ripcord was doing in the tech space, as it was the first to market with this technology, impacting a $62 billion document intelligence market. It is backed by leading investors, including Kleiner Perkins, Google Ventures, Lux Capital and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.
When Ripcord offered Whittaker the opportunity to join the company in 2021, he jumped at the chance to combine his interest in entrepreneurship, technology and the law by handling all of its legal work, including commercial agreements, investor financing, mergers, IP, cybersecurity and compliance initiatives.
“I’ve always been interested in the next move, so being a part of this kind of initiative is very exciting to me. I’m eager to collaborate with my team and help to build something even bigger,” he says of the company’s use of proprietary robotics, generative AI and Cloud software to help the world become paperless and extract meaningful and useful data.
Whittaker has been generous in sharing his knowledge and experience in this space with students at Syracuse Law.
Last February, he took part in the College of Law’s Innovation Law Center Symposium, “Venture to Victory: Pioneer Perspectives in Tech, Venture, and Private Equity.” He spoke on a panel of successful entrepreneurs, financial investors and legal experts discussing the challenges and opportunities that this disruptive technology is bringing to the legal field.
He notes that the “seismic shift” going on is creating greater expectations that new hires out of law school will be adept at the latest technology and ready to hit the ground running.
To that end, he has supported Syracuse Law and students aspiring to pursue technology and the law through the College of Law Scholarship and Financial Aid fund.
“I think that any kind of help I can offer the next generation of lawyers coming out of Syracuse is super important,” he says.
Looking back, Whittaker is pleased that he chose the non-linear route out of law school that brought him to a place where today he thrives.
He is also optimistic about emerging tools that are transforming the practice of law. “AI is coming for us, fast and furious,” he says. “It’s powerful and exciting and is going to impact every aspect of business and the law. Anyone who does not embrace it is going to be at a serious disadvantage. As for me, I’m embracing everything I can to push the boundaries of what we can achieve.”
Professor Emeritus William C. Banks discussed the history, original meaning, and Constitutional aspect of the Insurrection Act on the We the People podcast. The Insurrection Act authorizes the president to deploy the U.S. military for domestic law enforcement purposes.
Professor Katherine Macfarlane spoke with Law.com for an article on developments in federal judge shopping rules. This stems from dozens of attorneys backing lawsuits challenging Alabama’s law banning gender affirming care for transgender youth in 2022. U.S. District Judge Lilies Burke of the Northern District of Alabama set in motion a seemingly “unprecedented” probe into their suspected judge shopping practices.
One attorney, Carl Charles, faces criminal charges for allegedly lying during his testimony before a three-judge panel of a jurist from each federal district in Alabama.
Despite the growing controversy over the topic, experts say it’s not illegal. After all, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure give plaintiffs one chance to voluntarily dismiss a complaint without prejudice, according to Macfarlane, who studies judge shopping matters and served as the lead author of an amicus brief in Charles’ civil sanctions appeal.
Born in Mexico, Brenda López Romero L’11 spent most of her young life with her father in Georgia. She had to repeat kindergarten to improve her English, an experience that fueled her determination to not only acculturate but help advocate for others like her. Her parents always stressed that education was key to achievement, saying, “Go to school, and be somebody.” With that motivation, she became the first in her family to graduate from high school, complete a political science degree at Georgia State University and ultimately earn a law degree from the Syracuse University College of Law.
López Romero has not only become “somebody,” but she has made history—as the first Latina elected to the Georgia General Assembly, a position she held from 2017 to 2021. There, she sponsored 72 bills and served on committees related to education, retirement, state planning and community affairs. From 2021 to 2025, she served as senior assistant district attorney for the Gwinnet County (GA) district attorney’s office and today is an immigration attorney at The Lopez Firm. However, she is currently running again for the state assembly to regain her seat in the 2026 election.
In recognition of her contributions, López Romero was presented with the José Bahamonde-González L’92 Legacy Award from the Latin American Law Students Association (LALSA) at Syracuse Law on Oct. 10, 2025. This award recognizes alumni who have significantly contributed to their communities and achieved excellence in their careers, while celebrating and recognizing the efforts that members of the Hispanic American community have made in the legal field.
Brenda López Romero speaks with students at the 2025 José Bahamonde-González L’92 Legacy Award Event
“It is no wonder that Brenda López Romero was such a strong contender for the José Bahamonde-González Legacy Award,” says Syracuse Law Teaching Professor Suzette M. Meléndez, “From the moment that she stepped into our law school, Brenda always presented as someone with great determination and civic purpose. She knew that her decision to go to law school was to engage in the greater community seeking to improve the lives of others while using the rule of law to seek equity.”
Syracuse Law Teaching Professor Suzette M. Meléndez and LALSA President Imari Roque L26 celebrate Brenda López Romero.
Inspired by her father’s attorney—who once told her she’d make a good lawyer—López Romero set her sights on the law and never looked back. Her later entry into state government came from the idea that she could make a bigger impact if she had a voice that could open more doors for more people. Through her work, López Romero has been an advocate not only for the rights, protection and education of Latinos, but for those from many different backgrounds.
“I learned U.S. history and civil rights in school, and it showed me that I am here because other groups and communities went through struggles that made it possible for me. So I take this work very seriously,” she says. “When you advocate for a particular group or issue, you’re trying to create a more positive quality of life that ends up benefitting everyone.”
Receiving an award from her alma mater is very meaningful to López Romero, particularly because she was selected by the LALSA students.
“It’s very significant to me and correlates to what the next generation of young people are going to be able to achieve,” she says. “I want to be a mentor and a memorable person in someone else’s life and know that I helped someone as many people have helped me along the way. The José Bahamonde-González L’92 Legacy Award is recognition that I’m doing just that. That little girl who came to America and spoke no English has a voice now, and I intend to keep using it.”
“One of the things I fear might be happening here is that the judge advocates in this instance may be providing proper means and methods advice, but I sense that the administration has gone to the Department of Justice and asked the Office of Legal Counsel to override whatever advice is being given by the judge advocates,” said Baker, former chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.
Baker said commanders should have the courage to stand up to illegal orders.
“If the JAG advised it was unlawful, the commander owns it now,” Baker said. “So, if you think there’s something that is unlawful, you need to say so. And that’s a point when you put your stars on the table.”
This year’s Criminal Law & Policy Speaker Series connects students with top legal minds — from scholars to practitioners — tackling real-world challenges in criminal justice. It’s a chance to hear, question, and engage with those shaping the field. The series is organized by Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs Lauryn Gouldin with support from the Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professorship Program, with many events hosted in partnership with the Criminal Law Society.
Professor of Law Emeritus William C. Banks spoke with the Associated Press on the deployment of the National Guard to cities by President Trump and what roles the National Guard can fulfill.
The Guard members cannot enforce local laws, block traffic or do “any of the things that police do,” Banks said. “So it’s more symbolic than helpful.”
The Syracuse Medical-Legal Partnership (SMLP), an interdisciplinary clinical collaboration between the pediatric unit at SUNY Upstate Medical University and Syracuse University College of Law, was recently the focus of Upstate Medical University’s The Informed Patient podcast.
The SMLP provides law students with real-world experience as they work with Upstate medical providers to identify legal issues that might involve the health of patients and their families at SUNY Upstate Medical University’s University Pediatric and Adolescent Center and the Pediatric to Adult Transition Clinic for Complex Health.
SMLP Director and College of Law Professor Suzette Meléndez and Sarah Reckess L’09, SMLP Director and SUNY Medical University Assistant Professor of Bioethics and Humanities, were interviewed for the podcast.
Students in the SMLP are encountering several aspects of the law. “What we have been seeing pretty consistently are housing issues and issues with regard to advance directives. And by that I mean people who think they might need a guardianship or a power of attorney or a health care proxy, something designed to support the patient in making medical decisions,” said Meléndez.
She continues, “We also have seen inquiries about the establishment of wills and estates law, particularly from parents who are seeking to provide for their child long-term, and where that child may have a disability. We also see issues of family law. We see issues with regard to domestic violence. We have seen issues regarding custody and where there’s uncertainty as to which parent gets to make medical decisions concerning that child.”
Professor Jenny Breen recently spoke with The Daily Orange on the legal issues around sanctuary cities or jurisdictions and federal immigration law.
According to Breen, sanctuary cities are cities, counties, and states that refuse to enforce federal immigration policies on behalf of the federal government.
Breen said these “sanctuary jurisdictions” are legal under the 10th Amendment, which recognizes states and cities as sovereign entities from the federal government. She said the government cannot “co-opt” cities into doing its work.
