Born and raised in the Buffalo area, Mr. MacKay graduated from Canisius High School and then attended SUNY Buffalo, graduating cum laude and “With High Distinction” in the psychology department, along with a minor in Political Science and a concentration in Comparative Literature.
Attending law school several years later, Mr. MacKay graduated magna cum laude from SUNY Buffalo Law School. While there, he participated in several moot court competitions, including representing the school in a national criminal law moot court competition. Mr. MacKay additionally interned with the Hon. Timothy J. Drury of the New York State Supreme Court and completed a practice-intensive internship in the felony division of the San Diego County Public Defender’s Office where he made numerous court appearances, including actively second-chairing a first-degree murder and cross-border kidnapping jury trial; participating in the defense of a Mexican drug trafficker accused of transporting almost 40 pounds of methamphetamine along Interstate 5; and participating in the defense of a highly-publicized Gaslamp Quarter broad-daylight murder. He still maintains his license to practice law in California.
Following law school, Mr. MacKay was at the Federal Public Defender’s Office in Buffalo before going on to serve as a judicial law clerk to the Hon. Kathleen M. Tafoya in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado, passing the Colorado bar exam while living out there (when not climbing “the 14ers” with his dog). He returned to the Buffalo area after his clerkship to open his own practice while working overnight at a hotel, inspired by his parents having started their own architecture firm when he was younger.