Stephen E. Dawley graduated with honors from The College of the Holy Cross in 1974. He attended Suffolk University Law School on a full academic scholarship, the David I. Walsh Scholarship, and graduated with honors in 1977. In 1978 he was admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Attorney Dawley subsequently started his own practice in Framingham, Massachusetts, and has practiced continuously in Framingham for more than 25 years.