HOW does one go from studying history in Queens City University to becoming one Irish America's most successful and genuine lawyers and still have time for pro-bono work and his family? The Irish Voice went along to visit one of New York's finest lawyers last week to see what really goes on behind the scenes and hear about the journey.Sean Downes, 48, sits in his office in Wall Street, on the 21st floor, just steps away from the New York Stock Exchange. Although there certainly isn't as much commotion in Downes' offices as there is on the trade floor down the street, there certainly is a great welcoming vibe from Downes, his staff and colleagues.Downes grew up in Bayside, Queens and still resides there today with his wife and daughters. His office walls are clearly adorned with two very poignant elements which represent his life. One is a picture of his two daughters Mollie, 16, and Katie, 13, and his wife of 20 years Marianne. Then there is a picture of his second love, Ireland, more specifically Northern Ireland, where he can proudly lay claim to having been involved strongly with the Irish peace process and the struggles of the people on the ground.Downes spent his junior year of college in Dublin, 1978 to 1979, where he attended the School of Irish Studies. Not only did Downes study in Ireland, he also took an avid interest in what was going on in Northern Ireland. When he wasn't caught up with politics, he traveled around the country playing basketball.His love for Ireland, and his believe that the British should not be there, evoked strong passion about the political issues effecting the six counties. In fact he felt so strongly about such issues that he purposely missed his last college exam in the Queens City University of New York the day hunger striker Bobby Sands died because he attended a protest outside the British Consulate in Manhattan. "The teacher finally tracked me down, and when I told him where I was he left me do the exam again," said Downes last week. After completing an undergraduate degree in history, Downes knew in his bones that he wanted to become a lawyer. Following in the footsteps of his father Laurence, who practiced law, Downes applied for a law course in Hofstra University in Long Island and was accepted. Not only did Sean become a lawyer, so did his three brothers, Larry, Kevin and Chris.Larry Downes is now president of Friends of Sinn Fein, which was set up in after Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams was granted a U.S. visa. Downes, who is one of the three officers on the board, was involved through the years in helping to raise millions of dollars for Sinn Fein on this side of the Atlantic.After completing three years of law school, Downes found himself with his own desk at the law offices of O'Dwyer and Bernstien. "I had interned with Frank Durkan during the summers of school so it was a great pleasure to work with him full time once my studies were completed," said Downes. After six years under Durkan's wing, Downes braved the big bad world and set out on his own path, thus setting up the law offices of Sean Downes on Wall Street.Durkan, who passed away last summer, was Sean's mentor, and it was through him that the young Queens man became heavily involved with issues pertaining to the North. "I quickly got involved in all different cases to do with Northern Ireland, like helping people here who were caught up with the freedom struggle," he says.It was through this work that Downes got his first big break as a lawyer. He proudly worked with Jerry Keogh and Richard Harvey to help political refugee Sean Mackin become the first Irish person ever to obtain political asylum. "Although it took seven years from start to finish we did it," he said.Downes remembers the day at court when Irish lawyer Pat Finucane, who was killed by Protestant Loyalist paramilitaries on February 12, 1989, gave evidence supporting the reasons that Mackin could never return to Ireland for fear of being murdered. "I remember clearly the Judge asked Finucane if he feared for his life and he said, 'Yes, every day,'" said Downes.Two weeks later Finucane, who was best known for representing hunger striker Sands, was killed in the North.Downes, who quickly became involved with the Brehon Law Society as his career advanced, recalls how throughout the years, especially during the Troubles, he would receive calls during the middle of the night from Irish people claiming the FBI were harassing them. "They (FBI) would offer young guys green cards if they would become an informant. I would then call the FBI and say to back off that I was representing the client," Downes says.Although Downes worked on several cases dealing with clients looking for political asylum, most at a pro-bono level, it was time he began to earn a living so he focused his strengths on representing people who had accidents.Over the years, Downes has represented hundreds of documented and undocumented Irish immigrants who have either died or were injured as a result of an accident. When asked if any case in particular stands out, Downes told the Irish Voice of a case in 1996 when a young pregnant woman's husband was killed when he fell off a building. Downes won $3.25 million for the lady and her family. As part of the settlement, a good portion went to the kids as payouts over their life time.Asked how it was possible to win such a substantial award Downes said, "We proved his life expectancy. He had all his taxes paid and kept impeccable records.We hired an economist who proved how much the construction worker would have earned over the course of his life if he hadn't died that day and we won." Not only did Downes help the family of the dead man financially, he also went a step further and suggested that his widow apply for her U.S. citizenship at the time, and she did just that. "She moved back to Ireland but I urged her to get her citizenship first so she would always have the door to America open to her if she ever wanted to come back," he says.And this is just one example of the type of cases Downes handles. "To be honest I'm not the type of guy to run to the papers with ever big award. I just don't think it's fair to the victims families who are left behind," he said, modestly admitting to winning numerous million dollar settlement cases. However, Downes records are near perfect. With over a 90% success rate in cases, he attributes it to "making sure I take on cases that have merit."Downes said that there are still a lot of construction accidents occurring every day and urges people to contact lawyers to protect themselves. "My advice to anyone who gets into an accident is to a) take photographs, b) write an accident report in your own words c) report the accident to a shop steward and d) come forward to see if you have rights," he says.Because there is still a surge in the construction industry Downes feels that accidents are still happening regularly. "Time is money and people will push the worker to get the job done in time whether there is a safety structure or not in place and several of those workers are undocumented Irish who might not know their rights," Downes said.