Sylvia was born in Baton Rouge, LA and raised in Zachary, Louisiana. She graduated from Centenary College in Shreveport, Louisiana in 1971 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Education and recieved her Masters in Education in 1977. She recieved her Juris Doctor Degree from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at LSU in 1989, and was a member of the Moot Court Board. After earning her Juris Doctor Degree, she served as a law clerk to the Honorable Michael J. McNulty of the 16th Judicial Court, State of Louisiana. In 1990 she joined what is now the Onebane Firm as an associate until November of 1991 when she became the permanant law clerk to the Honorable Rebecca F. Doherty, U.S. District Court Judge for the Western District of Louisiana. Sylvia retired from the Federal Court system in 2005 and has recently returned to the practice of law. She is also admitted to practice in Colorado as well as all Louisiana State courts, the Federal Western District Court and in the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Sylvia is a member in good standing in the Louisiana State Bar Association, Lafayette Parish Bar Association and Federal Bar Associations.