Doubling the Bottom Line with Externships

Doubling the Bottom Line

Externs Find Paths from Placements to Practice

At the College of Law, the power of practical experience is well understood. The Externship Program is a crucial part of a curriculum rich in hands-on experiential learning, skills-building, and professional development opportunities. Each semester—in Central New York, New York City, Washington, DC, Philadelphia, London, and elsewhere—students have a chance to get a practical education in how the legal system works, learn essential skills, and build résumés and networks through placements in law firms, public advocacy groups, non-profits, and government agencies, with the generous help of alumni in many cases.

More and more Syracuse students are finding out that the skills and experience they hone while at a placement are giving them a sharp edge in a tight employment market. Gaining practical experience and becoming profession-ready—that is the double bottom line of the Externship Program.

Cutting a Path

Take alumnus Don Riordan L’18. As a student with a keen interest in commerce and business law, Riordan participated in the Securities Arbitration & Consumer Law Clinic and completed internships at the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office and Suffolk County Supreme Court. In January 2018, he joined the first cohort of the New York City Externship (NYCEx) program, placing with Constellation Advisers LLC, where alumnus Charles Daly L’01, G’01 is a Partner. Following his stint as an Investment Compliance Adviser, Riordan received and accepted a full-time position at Constellation Advisers, beginning in fall 2018.

Or Nathan Bosiak L’18. The College is known for its large Judge Advocate General Corps contingent, and it will accept another member in fall 2018 when Bosiak becomes a military lawyer. Bosiak cut a strongly experiential path through Syracuse toward the JAG Corps. He participated in LondonEx before working in 2016 for the US Navy JAG Legal Service Office Southeast in Pensacola, FL, where he drafted memos and point papers, helped to coordinate Special Powers of Attorney outreach, and trained 34 legal officers.

In summer 2017, as part of the DCEx program, he joined the US Coast Guard Investigative Service, working on sexual assault investigations and administrative subpoena authority, before switching to the Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals. Explains Bosiak, “Working with [Faculty Director of Externship Programs] Professor Terry Turnipseed, I felt that doing the DCEx program would definitely enhance my résumé and application to the JAG Corps.” Now professionally recommended to join the JAG Corps full-time, Bosiak is clerking for the Hon. William L. Withan Jr. in the Delaware Superior Court.

Building Flexibility

Director of Externship Programs Kim Wolf Price L’03 points to other recent success stories. “Haldane Davies L’18 accepted a job offer from strategic consultancy HBW Resources following a DCEx externship last summer,” says Wolf Price. “Also, following her summer in DC at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, rising 3L Ursula Simmons was invited to apply for a position at the US Department of Homeland Security in the future and to compete for the Homeland Security Honors Program and Star Program, both pathways to employment. In order to further prepare for practice, she is now participating in our new Philadelphia pilot program—PhillyEx—this summer.”

The expansion of the program into Philadelphia is not the only innovation Wolf Price and Turnipseed have been working on. “We’re building geographical flexibility into the program so students can career-build in a spectrum of markets,” notes Wolf Price.

Anna LeGrett L’18 is one former student who made good use of this flexible option, completing a full-time externship in spring 2018 with Clyde & Co, a global law firm based in San Francisco. LeGrett previously had participated in DCEx, working at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. After her latest placement on the West Coast, and given her impressive résumé, Clyde & Co hired its former extern.

NYCEx Gets a Boost from Our Alumni

The Externship Program would not be possible without the generosity and commitment of alumni. Former students provide a range of benefits for the program, from hosting externs, to lecturing in “lawyer seminars,” to networking with students at alumni events in program cities.

Adam Leitman Bailey L'95

Adam Leitman Bailey L’95, for instance, was the first alumni to jump on board the New York City expansion. He not only placed an extern in his firm but also secured premier NYCEx placements for others through his own professional network, including with judges. “I took it upon myself to make sure the students got the best jobs with the most potential, as great résumé builders and chances for paying jobs at the end,” says Bailey.

Bailey is the sole managing partner at Adam Leitman Bailey PC, a law firm he started after graduating. Specializing in real estate law and boasting awards from Chambers USA, US News Best Lawyers, Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers, and more, it is now the largest, solely owned law firm in the city. It also holds the distinction of being the only real estate firm to beat President Donald J. Trump in a law suit.

Motivated by his own struggle to find a job after law school and to build a professional network, Bailey says he finds himself in a unique position to give back. “I salute the College for taking the initiative to expand its Externship Program,” he says. “The least I could do is work my tail off to find these students quality placements so they can take advantage of these incredible opportunities at learning and obtaining experience and to help students in ways no one could help me when I graduated.”

Duty to Give Back

Philanthropic engagement with the College of Law occurs in myriad forms, and Bailey’s generosity, beyond his involvement in the launch of NYCEx, extends to annual gifts, scholarships, matching grants, sponsored programs, and speaking and participating in College programs and CLE events. “I always return calls from Syracuse students or help connect them to others,” adds Bailey.

In addition to his stewardship with his alma mater, Bailey also founded the charity organization Building Foundations and Dreams in 2002. Its mission is “to assist students of all ages in pursuing their professional and personal dreams” by providing scholarships and other financial support, as well as mentoring, funding for childhood illness prevention research, disaster relief, and more. For this charity work, Bailey was honored by the New Milford Education Foundation as their 2017 Humanitarian of the Year. “No matter how busy or how tired I become, I am propelled to help those in need,” Bailey says.

Bailey continues, “Whatever success I have had comes straight from what I learned at the College of Law. I still use the trial techniques from Moot Court and Professor Travis Lewin’s mentorship, and I had an edge in real estate law thanks to Professor Deborah Kenn’s Community Development Law Clinic. I have a duty to give back.”

To current law students, Bailey offers this advice: “You have to give it a million percent. Everyone you meet is a contact, including your fellow law students. If you’re given an opportunity, don’t waste it by not trying to be the best, even if you’re not.”

To host an extern, or for more information, contact Director of Externship Programs Kim Wolf Price L’03 at 315.443.4736 or kwprice@law.syr.edu.

DCEx Placements 2017-2018

Adam Kish Law Offices

BakerHostetlerClyde & Co.Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), House Judiciary Committee

Federal Communications Commission, Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, Policy and Licensing Division

Garfield Law Group LLP

HBW ResourcesKurdistan Regional Government of Iraq, Representation in the United States, Diplomatic and Congressional Affairs

Ron M. Landsman PA

The LGBT BarThe Hon. J. Jeremiah Mahoney L ’69, Chief Administrative Law Judge, US Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Hearings and Appeals

Migliaccio & Rathod LLP

Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council

Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals (Code 51), US Navy

Pasternak & Fidis PC

Perseus Strategies LLC

The Hon. Dennis L. Phillips L’81, US Administrative Law Judge, Occupational Safety & Health Review Commission

Office of Public Defender (Montgomery County, MD)

The Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia

QuintilesIMS

Rolinski & Suarez LLCSanford Heisler LLPUS Coast Guard Investigative Service

US Consumer Product Safety Commission, Office of Commission

US Department of Defense, Office of the Secretary of Defense, European, and NATO Policy

US Department of Homeland Security, Citizenship and Immigration Services

US Department of Justice, Office of Legal Policy

US Securities and Exchange Commission

NYCEx Placements 2018

Boots Retail USA

The Hon. David Cohen, NY Supreme Court Justice, New York State Courthouse, New York County

Constellation Advisers LLC

Criscione Ravala LLP

DLA PiperH.C. Wainwright & Co.

The Hon. Jerald Lebovits, NY Supreme Court Justice, New York

Lownstein Sandler

The Montag GroupNew York Legal Assistance Group

New York State Office of the Attorney General Richmond County District Attorney’s Office

State Courthouse, New York County

Surrogate’s Court, New York County

Veterans Advocacy Project