Cynthia Eapen ’25, for the Defense

From her time as a crime reporter to her more recent experience competing in moot court and doing pro bono work at the University of Virginia School of Law, third-year student Cynthia Eapen has spent years honing skills she can use as an advocate for criminal defendants.

At UVA Law, Eapen has served as managing editor of the Virginia Tax Review, a leader of the Peer Advisor program, a coach and treasurer for the Extramural Moot Court team, and a research assistant for Professor Joe Fore ’11. She was also a semifinalist in the William Minor Lile Moot Court competition.

The Germantown, Maryland, native earned a bachelor’s degree in criminology and criminal justice from the University of Maryland. Before law school, she was a reporter for Baltimore Witness and interned with the office of the Prince George’s County Public Defender.

In our occasional series “Star Witness,” Eapen discussed her interest in defendant advocacy and what she learned competing in moot court.

Tell us something about your life before law school.

Before law school, I spent some time working for a nonprofit organization that kept the Baltimore community informed about ongoing crime in the area. As a reporter, my job was to follow the progression of these cases and create articles detailing certain proceedings. This was quite different from the writing that I had done previously at my college town’s county’s public defender’s office, but I knew that reporting on these matters not only kept the community well-informed but also gave defendants and victims the opportunities to share their parts of the story.

Why law school?

I initially chose to go to law school because I wanted to be an advocate for juveniles. Growing up, I watched several kids in an adjacent neighborhood to mine constantly fall into a vicious cycle of not entirely understanding the criminal justice system and then finding themselves in an unfortunate position with the system itself. As I interned at the county public defender’s office, I noticed that it wasn’t just kids that fell victim to a cycle like this. Older individuals who may have not had a great upbringing or the right role models fell into a similar trap. I knew after that experience that I wanted to come to law school to not only help demystify what could be a confusing system to several individuals, but also to help illuminate a pathway out of that negative cycle for these individuals.

Describe your most interesting law school experience.

Competing as a semifinalist in the Lile Moot Court competition with Tim Dragonette ’25 was the most fun and challenging law school experience that I have had. I met Tim on the first day of law school through my section and he quickly became my best friend and significant other all in one. We quickly realized that our combined competitive spirit would make us a great pair for Lile too.

Prior to law school, I had taken an appellate advocacy course at the University of Maryland, College Park, where I quickly developed a passion for brief writing and oral argument. Coming to UVA, I was eager to utilize that passion towards Lile. I have always viewed writing a brief as putting together a fun puzzle. The research process involves identifying all the puzzle pieces, and then the writing process is putting all those puzzle pieces together. Constructing that puzzle for Lile included countless phone calls, Ivy Garden boardroom deliberations and patience to make sure we made all the right pieces fit.

When the day came for oral argument, nothing felt better than standing at the podium and knowing that our friends were there for us every step of the way. From mooting us for quarterfinals to allowing us to test every possible opening for semifinals, I could not have been more grateful for our friends in this process. And while we did not pass on to the finals, I know I’ll always remember sharing this amazing moment with our friends.

What’s something your classmates don’t know about you?

I can dance on a brass plate! For 13 years of my life, I was a Kuchipudi classical dancer. This Indian classical art form is fast-paced, with long dances (15-20 minutes) and plenty of room for creative expression. Growing up, dance was a huge part of my lifestyle. My weekdays were devoted to memorizing dances and working as a team with my fellow dancers, while my weekends were filled with dance performances that contained vibrant costumes, jewelry and makeup. Some of these performances were opportunities to showcase what we had been learning, while others were fundraising opportunities for organizations like Hope for Humanity. Learning how to dance on a plate only added on to a great dance journey.

What do you want to do with your law degree?

Throughout law school, I have spent a lot of my time interning and doing pro bono work for a variety of public defender offices: the Lynchburg Public Defender Office, Fairfax Public Defender Office and the Federal Public Defender for the District of Maryland. So while I will be working at BakerHostetler in D.C. after graduation in the white-collar criminal defense sphere, I hope to continue and expand my passion in pro bono work as well.