Sylvia joined the law firm of Phillips & Cohen after 10 years with the San Francisco City Attorney's Office, where she specialized in government ethics. Before working in the City Attorney's Office, Sylvia was an assistant legal counsel in the Office of the U.S. Legal Counsel.
Sylvia, a 1987 graduate of Harvard Law School, served as an editor on the Harvard Law Review. Following graduation, she clerked for the Hon. Mariana Pfaelzer in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Sylvia currently co-teaches a course on public integrity at the University of California School of Law (Boalt Hall).