Ken Tyler, Esq.

Ken Tyler has focused his career on litigation, with particular emphasis on criminal law, appeals, and how and why courts make the decisions that they do.  Ken leverages those skills to identify the strengths and weaknesses of a given case and develop strategies for best ensuring that a client’s rights are vindicated.

Most recently, he was a chief assistant district attorney with the Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office, where he served as chief of the Law and Appeals Bureau.  In that role, Ken was responsible for representing the government in all appellate and postconviction litigation arising from criminal prosecutions across Onondaga County.  He prepared numerous briefs and motion responses and argued cases on appeal involving a multitude of crimes, from drug offenses to first-degree murder.  Ken also supervised other appellate prosecutors, regularly advised the district attorney and other leadership staff on emerging criminal law issues of statewide importance, and assisted trial prosecutors with complex legal questions arising in their own cases.

Before his leadership role with the District Attorney’s Office, Ken was a term law clerk to the Honorable Glenn T. Suddaby, then chief judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York.  Working in a confidential capacity, Ken performed legal research on a variety of complex legal issues in federal criminal and civil cases and drafted decisions for Chief Judge Suddaby.  Ken also served as a staff attorney with the federal court, focusing his work on drafting decisions dealing specifically with applications for writs of habeas corpus.

Ken also worked as an assistant district attorney at the Cortland County District Attorney’s Office.  There, he prosecuted misdemeanor and felony criminal matters in local and county courts and litigated appeals before the Appellate Division, Third Department. Before that position, Ken served as an associate attorney in the civil litigation department of a midsize Syracuse law firm.

Ken’s particular interests in appeals work, criminal law, and judicial decision-making were formed at his first job after law school. He worked as a court attorney at the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, where he performed extensive legal research and drafted reports on pending appeals to the court’s justices, recommending how those cases should be decided.  He worked on a broad array of criminal cases, civil cases, and administrative proceedings, including appeals from convictions of murder, kidnapping, sex crimes, and other offenses.

Born and raised in Central New York, Ken graduated summa cum laude from Saint John Fisher College and magna cum laude from Albany Law School, where he was a member of the Albany Law Review and Justinian Honor Society.