Steve Connelly, BA '83 & JD '86

A “Switch” to law?

The story usually goes like this:  A lawyer chucks his career to do what he really loves.  Steve Connelly, BA, ’83; JD, ’86, did the opposite:  He found his legal calling as he was following his musical dream.

Connelly had been serious about music long before he’d thought about a profession.  A percussionist, he began studying drums at 15 with a prominent jazz player in Buffalo.  In high school, he joined his brother’s Beatles-tribute band, Switch, which played regularly in Western New York throughout Connelly’s undergraduate and law school years.

After finishing UB Law School, when his peers were all taking jobs, Connelly jetted off for London.  There, he played drums and recorded with a British pop group, Way of the West.  During his time in the U.K., by necessity Connelly began to learn about the country’s immigration rules.  “I was researching whether, because my grandparents were born in England, I had a right of abode there,” he recalls.  In the process, Connelly began to think he liked immigration law and “found a direction for my law degree.”

An offer he couldn’t refuse

On his return to the States, Connelly landed at a Buffalo firm that handled a good deal of immigration work.  After that, he became a public defender with the International Institute of Buffalo, a social service organization catering to the city’s immigrants.  Connelly represented indigent people who were the subject of immigration proceedings and helped others get immigrant visas and permanent resident status.  His work for the Institute brought him to the attention of folks in the Federal Immigration and Naturalization Service, who offered him a position as a trial attorney handling government cases. 

“They made me an offer I couldn’t refuse,” he says.  And that’s where Connelly has been since 1994, representing what is now known as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in refugee, asylum and removal hearings.  Some of his cases also involve prosecuting immigrants involved in organized crime; while others might deal with potential terrorism or threats to national security.

His work with refugees is challenging: “I deal with people from around the globe, learning about their governments and trying to determine the validity of their persecution claims.”  He says that some of the toughest cases can be those dealing with coercive family planning issues, usually from the People’s Republic of China.  “Many claim persecution under the theory that they’ve been victims of coerced family planning in their homeland,” he explains, “meaning they’ve been forced to have abortions or undergo sterilization.”

Devoted to music

Through all the lawyering, Connelly remains devoted to music.  He rejoined his brother and old friend Tom Lorentz, MA ’76, in Switch, which today also includes a three-piece brass section.  “We cover songs by groups like Chicago, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Huey Lewis, the Buckinghams,” he says.  Switch still plays regularly in Western New York, with a schedule that also can include dates in other parts of the country.  The group recently returned from a successful show in Long Beach, California.  Memorable past performances include opening a concert for the popular ‘70s group, America. “I still have a real love of performing,” Connelly admits, “and we still have a loyal fan base.”  

A few years back, Switch also recorded a CD called After All These Years, which includes some songs written by members of the group.  ”I’m most proud of the original tracks,” says Connelly.  “I went to England in the first place to get into original music; I got involved in a creative process and developed musically.  I’ve tried to bring some of that back to Switch.”

The group had also taken a year off in the past to write and record their own songs.  “We’ve tried to capture a new creative direction,” he says.

The logistics of managing a busy legal career and performing in a still-vital band is a “juggling act,” Connelly says.  “Sometimes you get really involved with your career and almost forget you’re in a band.  Then you have a peak performance, 300 people screaming, and you remember you’re a musician.  Later, you’re back at the office thinking, ‘Am I really in a band?’”

Find out more about Steve Connelly and Switch at www.switchbandmusic.com.

Written by Grace Lazzara
May 2006

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