FORCES FOR JUSTICE
Currently senior defense counsel for four
Air Force bases and the US Air Force Academy in
Colorado, Williams is one of the Loyola law alumni
who have chosen rewarding careers serving their
country as military lawyers. Some, like Williams
and US Army Reserves Captain Tony Pottinger
(JD ’05), entered the armed forces for the first time
as brand-new attorneys. Others, including US Army
Captain Geoffrey Pariza (JD ’11), were in branches
of service before entering law school and
transitioned into legal positions as part of their
commitment to military careers. And still others,
like US Army Colonel Paul Kantwill (BA ’83, JD ’86),
started in private practice, then decided to try life
as a military lawyer.
“Many of our graduates have found satisfying
careers as part of the Judge Advocate General’s
Corps,” says Dean David Yellen. “It’s an option that
meshes well with the School of Law’s tradition
of advocacy, and it’s very much in keeping with
Loyola’s mission of public service and contributing
to the greater good.”
Multiple avenues
to the Corps
A surprising scope of life experiences lead
Loyola alums to pursue careers as judge advocates.
Kantwill was a defense attorney in private
practice when he and his wife, Nora, decided they
wanted to serve and live overseas. “We signed up
for a three-year adventure, and 24 years later, here
we are still,” says Kantwill, who is currently senior
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legal policy advisor to the Office of the Under
Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness
on a wide variety of legal and policy issues. Other
highlights of his almost quarter-century career in
military law include serving as deputy senior legal
advisor to the NATO commander in Afghanistan;
senior legal advisor at the US Army Sustainment
Center at Fort Lee, Virginia; and senior legal advisor
to the division headquarters responsible for
preparing service units and their legal elements
for combat rotations to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Pottinger became interested in advocacy
when he became a court-appointed special
advocate, or CASA, for children in the juvenile
justice system. Believing that his place was in
public service, he hoped for a position in the state’s
attorney’s office. He was offered one just before
law school graduation—at the same time he was
accepted as an Army judge advocate after he
applied to the Corps as an afterthought.
“All of a sudden I had choices,” Pottinger
recalls. “The war in Iraq was in its second year,
and I was asking myself what I could do to
help the country. My family has a tradition of
military service, and all those things converged
in my joining the JAG Corps.” After a series of
assignments overseas and at the US Army Legal
Services Agency and the US Military Academy
at West Point, Pottinger recently left active duty
and joined the Army Reserves to accept a civilian
position as chief deputy clerk of court at the US
Army Court of Criminal Appeals in Washington, DC.
US Navy Lieutenant Lauren Cherry (JD ’10)
shared Pottinger’s interest in juvenile justice and
litigation. Prior to attending law school, she’d
worked in pediatric mental health, and she earned
certificates in trial advocacy and child and family
law at Loyola. At a National Black Law Students
Association convention, she“spoke to a Navy
JAG recruiter, fell in love with what he told me,
and commissioned while I was still in law school,”
she relates. Today, she holds the position of trial
counsel for the Navy’s Region Legal Service Office
for Europe, Africa, and Southwest Asia in Manama,
Bahrain. Her job combines prosecution, advising
on investigations, and providing legal advice to a
multinational maritime security task force.
Pariza had a solidly established military career
before entering law school: He enlisted in the Army
infantry, became a battalion operations soldier, fire
team leader and sniper, and moved up to
squad leader and platoon sergeant. Leaving active
duty to go back to school, he earned both his
undergraduate and law degrees while in the Illinois
Army National Guard.
“Balancing the Army and school was not
always easy,” Pariza says. “The higher I got up in
rank and position the more time had to be put in
outside of the normal one weekend a month. I also
deployed twice for a year each time in support
of Operation Enduring Freedom, once just after
I finished my first-year finals at Loyola. On the
upside, all my classmates had kept going, so I had
a lot of people from whom to draw advice about
classes and outlines.”
Pariza is currently the administrative law
attorney for US Army Garrison Schweinfurt in
Schweinfurt, Germany, where he advises on
and reviews a variety of investigations. His work
also revolves around fiscal law, reviewing units’
proposed expenditures and ensuring they have the
correctly appropriated funds to make them. “With
the current fiscal climate and sequestration, I have
not become very popular,” Pariza jokes.
Another potential Loyola military lawyer, US
Army National Guard Captain Patrick Farrell, has
been in the Army for six years. He deployed in
Afghanistan before working as a National Guard
analyst in Washington, DC, and Hawaii, and now
works full time at the Great Lakes Naval Station
while attending law school in the evenings. Farrell
says he hasn’t yet decided whether to join the JAG
Corps after graduation or pursue another job while
staying in the National Guard. In the meantime, his
military experience is helping him balance full-time
work and law school because, he says, “I’m used to
working on little sleep!”
Early responsibility,
diverse roles
Many alums were attracted to the JAG
Corps for the litigation and other opportunities
it provides relatively early in officers’ careers.
In contrast to many large law firms, where
junior associates typically aren't given major
Building relationships
from Iraq to DC
Captain Anthony
Pottinger (JD ’05)
US Army Reserves, Chief Deputy
Clerk of Court, US Army Court of
Criminal Appeals
Washington, DC
››
Captain Tony
Pottinger has had
assignments from
West Point to Mosul,
Iraq, where he
helped train that
country’s forces in
the rule of law.
Have JAG job—
will travel
Lieutenant Lauren Cherry in front of the Blue Mosque in Istanbul
Lieutenant Lauren
Cherry (JD ’10)
US Navy, Trial Counsel, Region
Legal Service Office for Europe,
Africa, and Southwest Asia
Manama, Bahrain
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FALL 2013
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