Tyson Hubbard L’08
Tell us briefly about your career path and where you are today.
I grew up about 30 miles west of Syracuse in the very small town of Throop, with my grandparents on their corn and soybean farm. When you grow up in that part of the world, Orange is in your blood. I vividly remember grade school when in the first and second grades, teachers would wheel the gigantic televisions on carts into the classroom so we could all watch Big East tournament games and the NCAA tournament. We all wore high socks when we played basketball to look like Lawrence Moten.
I graduated from Port Byron High School in 2000 and matriculated at Harvard College, where I met my wife, Jessica. Jessica had grown up a world away in San Francisco. After college I worked at the Ivy League athletic conference for a year as an intern while applying to law schools. I was fortunate to be admitted to the Syracuse University College of Law and decided to head back to Central New York to cement my relationship with the University.
I received a first-class legal education from the excellent faculty at the College of Law, including Richard Ellison, Rob Nassau, Terry Turnipseed, Doug Zamelis, Lucille Rignanese, and others. I graduated in 2008 magna cum laude as a member of the Justinian Law Honor Society and the Order of the Coif. I took and passed the New York and Massachusetts bar exams in July 2008 and returned to Boston where Jessica was a beginning her second year at Harvard Business School.
After the birth of our son, Dashiell, in 2013, Jessica and I began to plan our move west. I took and passed my third bar exam–California–and we started to identify communities in California that might meet our needs. By combining my agricultural upraising, Jessica’s desire to be close to Dash’s grandparents in San Francisco, and our shared love of sunshine, we settled on Davis, California. We moved in August 2014, and took our time driving across the county (with a nine-month-old).
I am now working at Downey Brand LLP, which is the largest law firm in Sacramento, as an associate in the trusts and estates litigation group. It turns out that we just barely beat the winter weather in Boston and avoided a record snowfall this past winter while enjoying California’s warm (if dry) climate.
When you look back on your life, what has your SU experience meant to you?
My Syracuse experience runs deep because it’s impossible to separate my connection with the University from my connection to the region. The University has a significant impact on the community and Central New York in general. Syracuse is in my blood. Practically speaking, the legal reasoning, writing, and communication skills taught by my Syracuse professors have positioned me to do excellent work on behalf of my clients at the best firms where I have lived.
What successes in your life (personal/professional) do you attribute to SU?
I attribute my career to the University. Syracuse gave the confidence and skills to succeed in a very competitive legal market.
What is your favorite memory of Syracuse University?
My favorite memory of Syracuse is the deep connections that I made with my professors. I got to know many of my professors on a personal level and I have kept in touch with many of them today. I had access to professors for coursework questions, mentoring, and networking, in a way that I never experienced at Harvard.
As an alum in the SF Bay Area region, how have you enjoyed connecting with other alumni in the area?
There are many young, enthusiastic, and energetic SU alumni in the Bay Area, stretching from Silicon Valley to the Sacramento region. Syracuse graduates are universally committed to the University and enjoy reminiscing about their days on the Hill. We are in the infancy of establishing a Sacramento-area outpost of the Northern California Alumni Club to engage the energized alumni in this part of the state. Connecting with the Syracuse club strengthens your connections back to campus, strengthens your local network, and provides an outlet for intellectual conversation and engagement.