Recent Arizona law grad will focus on Social Security Disability Insurance, Veteran Disability cases
Autumn Kycia is a new associate attorney at Brian Clymer, Attorney at Law. The firm represents people in workers’ compensation, Social Security disability, and Veteran disability cases.
Ms. Kycia started at the firm as a law clerk in May 2016. She graduated from the James E. Rogers College of Law at the University of Arizona with a Juris Doctorate in 2017. She passed the Arizona bar exam given in February 2017 and was licensed to practice law on September 6, 2017. Autumn currently represents clients in Social Security Disability benefit cases and in Veteran Disability benefit cases.
Of his new associate, Attorney Brian Clymer said, “I’m excited about Autumn joining us. Her fluency in Spanish and knowledge of Social Security disability will help us represent clients who have Social Security disability claims. Her interest in representing veterans with their VA disability cases will allow us to help men and women who have been hurt while serving our country.”
While in law school, Ms. Kycia focused on clinical practice and developing practical skills to advocate for under-served and vulnerable communities. Her clinical work included the Immigrant Workers Rights Clinic at the Bacon Immigration Law and Policy Program (UA); the Veterans’ Advocacy Law Clinic, representing veterans charged with criminal misdemeanors in Veterans Treatment Court; and a disability appeal before the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. She also interned for the Criminal/Immigration Unit of the Pima County Public Defender’s Office. Ms. Kycia’s substantial paper was titled “Open Season at the Border: Analysis of Use of Deadly Force by Border Patrol Agents and How the Legal System Can Foster Greater Accountability”.
Aside from her internship work, Ms. Kycia was an active member of the law school’s LGBTQ organization, Pride Law. As Pride Law President, she worked in partnership with Southern Arizona Gender Alliance to host Pride Law’s first free legal clinic: a name change clinic for the local transgender community.
In law school, Ms. Kycia was the recipient of a Distinguished Scholar scholarship, the Susan Barber Memorial Scholarship, and the Thomas Tang Memorial Scholarship. She received awards for Legal Process, Analysis, and Writing (2 semesters) and Disability Law. She also received awards Outstanding Performance in Oral Advocacy and Outstanding Performance in Legal Writing. Upon graduating, she received the Andrew Silverman Community Service Award, and earned a certificate in Criminal Law and Policy.
Ms. Kycia received her bachelor’s degree in Spanish, and graduated magna cum laude with honors in 2006 from the University of Massachusetts Boston (Boston, MA). Between undergrad and law school, she spent three years living in Northern Spain, where she worked as a cultural assistant to a bilingual program and also worked as an English teacher. When she returned from Spain, Ms. Kycia worked at law firms in Boston and Tucson, and a domestic violence shelter in New Mexico.
Autumn was born in Maine, but grew up in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, Washington, New Mexico and northern Arizona. She is a 2002 graduate of Flagstaff High School (Flagstaff, Az). In recent years Autumn has chosen Tucson as her home. Her free time is usually spent reading biographies, traveling, and playing with her two dogs.
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Attorney Brian Clymer has more than 35 years of experience representing injured and disabled workers in Tucson and southern Arizona. He is a certified specialist in Workers’ Compensation law by the Arizona Board of Legal Specialization since 1983 and has won cases before the Arizona Court of Appeals and the Arizona Supreme Court.