Hancock Estabrook summer associates complete their work virtually

SYRACUSE — Law students Nabil Akl and Bryan O’Keefe recently spent about a month working with Syracuse law firm Hancock Estabook, LLP as summer associates.

Because of the COVID-19 restrictions, their work with the firm has been “100 percent virtual,” Mary Miner, hiring partner with Hancock Estabrook, tells CNYBJ in an email message.

Akl and O’Keefe started their work May 14 and were set to conclude their duties as of June 19, Miner adds.

Akl attends the Syracuse University College of Law, where he is the trial division director of Advocacy Honor Society and co-founded the Middle Eastern Law Student Association. He is also a member of the Black Law Student Association. He had previously completed an internship with Glenn Suddaby, Chief U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of New York. Akl earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Drexel University.

O’Keefe attends Albany Law School of Union University. He is a member of the Student Bar Association and the executive editor for State Constitutional Commentary on the Albany Law Review. He previously externed with Lawrence Kahn, U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of New York. O’Keefe earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Vermont. 

Hancock Estabrook was founded in 1889 and has continuously maintained offices in downtown Syracuse since that time. The firm’s practice areas include bankruptcy and creditors’ rights, construction, corporate, elder law and special needs, environmental, family business succession planning, government relations, intellectual property, labor and employment, litigation, military, public finance, real property valuation, startup and emerging business, tax, trusts and estates, and zoning and land use, per its website.