Professional & Career Development
Lawyers today, regardless of their practice, require a wide array of skills to be successful. These skills range from networking and business development to basic professionalism. The Office of Professional & Career Development at Syracuse University College of Law provides a variety of programming and networking opportunities to assist students with developing these critical attributes. Working one-on-one with students, the Office of Professional & Career Development assists them with crafting job search strategies which focus on their interests and capitalize on their strengths.
A legal education from Syracuse University College of Law opens the doors to a broad spectrum of interesting and challenging careers. Today, as in the past, our graduates are having a profound impact on their communities. To introduce students to the diverse career paths available to them, the Office of Professional & Career Development is honored to highlight members of the alumni community at various stages in their careers whose work encompasses an array of practice areas.
CYNTHIA T. KEARLEY L'01
CYNTHIA T. KEARLEY earned her undergraduate degree from University of Florida in 1997, and was selected into the Florida Blue Key Honor Fraternity. In 2001, she graduated, cum laude, from the College of Law. Concurrent with her studies in the law school, she earned a Master's Degree in International Relations from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, and served as an officer candidate through the Air Force Graduate Law Program in Syracuse Air Force ROTC Detachment 535. She was commissioned upon graduation. Shortly after admittance to both the Florida Bar and the Massachusetts Bar in 2002, Kearley attended the Judge Advocate General's (JAG) School at Maxwell Air Force Base (AFB) in Montgomery, Alabama. After assignments at Edwards AFB (California), Bolling AFB (Washington, DC), and MacDill AFB (Tampa), she recently returned to Maxwell AFB in her current capacity as a faculty member and instructor in civil law.
While in the College of Law at Syracuse, Kearley participated in the Moot Court Honor Society and the Jessup Moot Court Competition Team. She was an editor of the Syracuse Journal of International Law and Commerce. She served as a teaching assistant for a 1L Legal Research and Writing Class as well as a Torts Class through the Structured Study Group program (now "Academic Skills"). She worked as a research assistant on the Lockerbie Trial-Families Project with the late Professor Donna Arzt. Across campus, she worked as a graduate assistant in the National Security Studies Program, hosted by the Maxwell School, for executive education students, including senior military officers and Department of Defense personnel.
Her military assignments have included both prosecution and defense counsel positions. In Washington DC, she served as Chief Commissioner and Law Clerk at the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals. During that assignment, she was admitted to practice law before the United States Supreme Court. She was also deployed during Operation Iraqi Freedom and served in direct support to the Central Criminal Court of Iraq. Upon returning to DC, she was selected as one of three Air Force officers to serve as mentors in the United States Senate Youth Program for outstanding high school seniors.
Just prior to her current JAG School faculty assignment, Major Kearley served as the Deputy Staff Judge Advocate at the 6th Air Mobility Wing at MacDill AFB in Tampa. She became active in the Florida Bar Association, where she continues to serve on the Military Affairs Committee. She also served as President of the Hillsborough County Bar Association's Leadership Institute in 2010, and was recognized by the 6th Air Mobility Wing Commander and Mayor Pam Iorio of Tampa as MacDill Women's Appreciation Military Employee of the Year (2010). She intends to engage in professional associations in each community where future Air Force assignments take her.
On a personal note, Major Kearley greatly enjoys family time with her husband and their two children.
Relevant Links:
US Air Force JAG Corps
US Air Force JAG School Foundation
US Air Force ROTC
Syracuse University ROTC Det 535
Florida Bar Association
Hillsborough County Bar Association
US Senate Youth Program
A podcast series by and for the members of the Syracuse University Law Alumni Association, SULAA Speaks seeks to share the wisdom of College of Law graduates with current and future alumni.
