Jarosław Szymański studied at the Faculty of Law at the University of Lodz in 1981-86. He was involved in local government and opposition activities – organising protests against amendments to the Act on Higher Education, which, among other things, became the reason for his surveillance by the security of the People's Republic of Poland.
He completed his legal training at the Łódź Chamber in 1986-91. His oratorical skills made him particularly fond of court law. During his apprenticeship, he continued his social activities – in 1987-89, he was active in the Young Democrats Movement affiliated with the Democratic Party. After the events of 1989, he also became involved in politics – he was a candidate for the Sejm of the Republic of Poland in 1989, 1991 and 1995, founder of the National Liberal Movement and co-author of the economic programme "Capitalist Revolution 1991". After the collapse of the government in 1992, he continued his association with the Movement for the Republic of Poland and the Polish Reconstruction Movement.
Jarosław Szymański has been a practising attorney since 1991 in an individual law firm and a partnership. He specialises in criminal law, in particular in the aspect of economic turnover. In the reborn Republic of Poland he has participated in political cases – including those concerning the "surveillance of the right political party" and in vetting proceedings.
A few years after obtaining his qualifications as an attorney, Jarosław Szymański became involved in self-government work. From 1995 to 1998, and from 2001 to 2004, he served as the Disciplinary Ombudsman of the Regional Bar Council in Łódź. He chaired the Parliamentary and Legal
Committee, was a member of the Committee for Training of Lawyer Associates, as well as a spokesperson for the ORA. In 2008 and 2010, he was a delegate to the 9th and 10th National Conventions of the Bar Association.
He is an author of publications on procedural guarantees regarding civil rights and freedom in democratic criminal trials.
