Recently, we had the opportunity to sit down and chat with WLD member, Cindy Cho. Cindy is the Assistant U.S. Attorney for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Indiana. We are excited to honor Cindy and get to know her a little better!
Tell us about your practice.
I’m a federal prosecutor, so that means I’m lucky enough to (1) investigate people and try to get to the bottom of why they’ve decided to do something illegal – which is always fascinating; and (2) practice in federal court. Both of these aspects of my work are challenging and rewarding in equal measure. Although I typically work on federal criminal cases that have a nexus to the Southern District of Indiana, I’m currently serving on a detail to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C., working solely on cases arising from the siege of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
How do you like to spend your free time (if any) or your time outside of work?
I recently started knitting, which is a great de-stressor. I love to read literary fiction and classics. This year, for the first time, I taught a small criminal law colloquium at my alma mater, the Indiana University Maurer School of Law, and I helped a friend coach mock trial at Riverside High School here in Indy. Talking to law students about the profession is centering and it reminds me why the practice of law can and should still be noble. Helping high school kids navigate the Fed. R. Evid. is hilarious and humbling, and their intuitive grasp of some aspects of litigation is a good reminder that many of the rules that govern litigation make sense.
If you could give one piece of advice to other women lawyers, what would that be?
Allow the practice of law to empower you. Litigating for the Department of Justice was my first job after law school, clerking and living abroad. Engaging in the practice of litigation, in federal courts around the country, has been an irreplaceable builder of confidence for a lifelong bookworm.
Can you speak about your experience as a diverse female attorney in Indy?
I have had great experiences working with women here and am proud that our district has had more women as U.S. attorneys (and now, our first Black U.S. attorney) than nearly every other district in the country. But there's always more work we can do as a community of lawyers to humanize each other and consider the many stories that make up each of us as individuals. What I think any diverse female attorney (and really, any person, anywhere) seeks is an understanding that we have both a universal experience as lawyers – we work a lot, we’re argumentative, we’re exacting, etc. – and singular experiences as minority and women lawyers – I have been the only woman, and certainly the only Asian-American woman, in many work meetings, hearings and other professional encounters. Bar associations and other legal institutions in our city work hard to foster that understanding across the lawyer community, and I appreciate those efforts.
As a leader, what guidance can you offer to other attorneys in leadership positions?
Take the work seriously, but don't take yourself too seriously. Own the decisions that are yours to own; understand which decisions aren't.
As a working mother, do you have any advice to offer other lawyers who are working mothers?
When your kids ask you to wear matching clothes with them, just do it!
If you would like to submit content or write an article for the Women and the Law Division, please email Kara Sikorski at ksikorski@indybar.org.
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