Women’s History Month is an opportunity to celebrate the contributions and achievements of women throughout U.S. history. Each year during March, bar associations and other legal organizations across the state honor Women’s History Month by recognizing the important work of women lawyers, who make up 40% of the Illinois legal profession.
During Women’s History Month, I spoke to Audrey C. Thompson, president of the East Central Illinois Women Attorneys Association, one of the many bar associations across Illinois that champion the careers of female attorneys. Thompson is also First Assistant Public Defender in the Champaign County Public Defender’s Office.
What inspired you to be a bar association leader?
I am currently the presidentof the ECIWAA (East Central Illinois Women Attorneys Association). Prior to becoming president, I served on the board where I had the opportunity to observe other powerful women leaders taking charge and coordinating events and programs that united the female legal population of our area.
Being a part of an organization that empowers women and gives them a forum for socializing, commiserating, and strategizing felt very important. When I was afforded to opportunity to run for president of ECIWAA, I just couldn’t pass it up.
Who is a woman lawyer or judge who made a difference in your career?
When I was in law school, I had an adjunct professor who taught my trial team whose full-time job was a federal public defender.
She was incredibly knowledgeable about trial performance, but more importantly, she was incredibly charismatic and always willing to share that knowledge. It only took two semesters of her influence for me to solidify that a) I wanted to be a trial attorney, and b) I wanted to do what she did.
After law school, I joined a private firm that handled criminal defense, but I immediately signed on with the county and the federal government to take contract criminal defense appointments. Throughout my years as a private defense attorney, I reached out to her often with questions or to talk strategy.
After five years at my firm, I wanted new direction in my career. That’s when this attorney reached out to me and offered me my current job at the Champaign County Public Defender’s Office, working directly under her.
Without her influence when I was in law school, and her continued friendship throughout my early career, I do not think I would have ended up with the career I have today.
What advice would you give women entering the legal profession?
Make sure you find someone worthy to rely on for advice and support.
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