Get to Know... Suzanne Messer
March 2, 2026
In her 20 years at Bond, Suzanne Messer has represented clients in commercial, higher education, employment and civil rights litigation. Hired directly upon her graduation from Syracuse University College of Law, Suzanne was named a member of the firm in 2016. Throughout her time at Bond, she has served on the Recruiting Committee and the Associates Committee and as deputy managing member of the litigation practice and deputy managing member of the Syracuse office. Suzanne just finished her third term as chair of Bond’s Women’s Initiative.
Describing the arc of her litigation career, Suzanne explains that “No one ever wants to have to hire you, as in who wants to sue or be sued? The stakes are high as is the pressure; heavily focused on deadlines and keeping pace.”
As she gained experience, she strove to assume a leading role in which she could integrate her love of learning and writing about the law. She also looked for an opportunity to stand out. She found both in the higher education practice.
“Most of my clients are colleges and universities,” she explains. “They have all the challenges that small cities and many companies face, grappling with an immensity of issues — everything from car accidents and personal injury matters to discrimination, employment issues and responding to executive orders that can be handed down at any time."
“Most of my practice is litigating cases, but in recent years, I spend more time dispensing advice or helping clients talk through issues, guiding them to avoid litigation and counseling them in real time.”
Her approach to higher education clients varies among those with in-house counsel and those without.
“My scope and approach are different when the client is fully reliant on me to explain the implications of matters of concern,” Suzanne says. “This requires taking off my lawyer hat to speak their language and address their world. The higher ed work can be daunting when dealing with changing laws and executive orders that have the potential to disrupt a highly complex world with new challenges, priorities and considerations. The schools’ administration must balance the pushback from hundreds of faculty members who want to teach as they see fit while managing the overarching institution that is visible to the government and larger community. This takes considerable creativity and ongoing communication.”
“With each change in the law or new executive order,” she continues, “we have to dig in and examine every nuance against the backdrop of a very uncertain environment. Orders may be given and rescinded; there will be pushback and lawsuits that may take years to resolve. The legal team has to help schools plan for the future. What do we think will happen years from now? How do we comply and move forward with our mission? This requires lots of educated guessing and risk management.”
Suzanne may owe her ability to handle the certainty and uncertainty inherent in the current educational climate with her own journey to adulthood.
Raised in Liverpool, a suburb of Syracuse, Suzanne determined early on that she was headed for the big time, and would never live in Syracuse as an adult. “In my youthful wisdom, I planned to be a big shot somewhere. Attending the University of Scranton, just a two-hour trip by car, felt far away and vast at that time. Even if it wasn’t as big as I thought, I felt from my first visit that I had found the right place. Looking back, my viewpoint was that of an immature, relatively sheltered person who wanted to go her own way but had to learn that life doesn’t always happen the way we plan.”
While attending college, Suzanne began to seek her fortune. She worked at Disney World during one summer and did an internship at Goldman Sachs in Manhattan during another. “Goldman made me an offer after my graduation, as did Disney. As much as I loved working at Disney, Florida was too far. As for Goldman, I realized New York City wasn’t the right fit.”
She moved home to reassess and began work as a temporary receptionist for Linda and Jon Payne’s family-owned business, U.S. Materials Handling. Suzanne had previously worked summers for the business, and this stint gave her a chance to evaluate her options. What she found was a special friendship with and mentor in Linda Payne. Learning that Suzanne was interested in law school but lacked mentors in the profession to advise her, Linda introduced Suzanne to her son, a practicing lawyer. She was further influenced at a second job she had taken to help her pay off credit card debt from college. She was introduced to her husband, Brandon, by a co-worker. Brandon connected her with his cousin, Matthew Doran, who at the time was an assistant district attorney. Matthew, who is now a County Court judge, encouraged Suzanne to apply directly to law school instead of testing out the waters as a paralegal, as she had considered.
Suzanne studied for the LSATs while working two jobs. However, the young woman who once thought she needed to leave Syracuse to pursue her dreams found herself with a long-term boyfriend and little interest in leaving town. Her sole law school application was to Syracuse University College of Law. Suzanne was accepted and offered scholarship money.
“At this point it became clear staying close positioned me for success,” she says. “I was able save money living at home and stay on my parents’ health insurance. When I was admitted to law school, my parents let me stop paying for the car that I had bought from them.”
This arrangement paid off more than her debt. Suzanne graduated second in her class, essentially writing herself a ticket to a big city law career. Yet that achievement could not persuade Suzanne to uproot. Instead, she went to directly to Bond, where she was confident she would find the success she had imagined as a high school senior.
“My goals have shifted over time to include raising healthy and well-adjusted kids. Being close to home for my son and daughter, especially during their adolescent years, and my relationship with husband, my parents, and my sisters plays a huge role in my well-being. I’m so fortunate to have had such formative years to try things out and over time gain personal development, maturity and confidence. I have no doubt that I’ve made the right choices for me.
“Bond is the premier firm in Syracuse. I have a career and a life that has more than met my expectations. I’ve learned that I can be the best version of myself, at home and at work, right here in Syracuse.”
