Attorney at Law Magazine sat with Lauren Champaign, of Foley & Lardner LLP, to discuss Lauren’s drive to become a attorney, her work with Obama for America and her pro bono activities. She also discussed the Racial Justice and Equity Practice Group that she helped to launch. She has pursued a career as a corporate litigator, which combines her passion for social issues with her legal knowledge, driven by her desire to make a difference in people’s lives through the law.
AALM What first interested you in pursuing a career as a lawyer?
LC The ability to improve and advance the lives of Blacks through the law intrigued me. When I was old enough, I always said “a lawyer” when people asked me what I wanted to do as a grown-up.
As a “military child” I was able to observe the difficulties Black Americans face in various regions of the United States. I also saw these problems in my hometown, the barrier islands in Charleston, SC. In the Gullah Geechee Community, an area on the coast of South Carolina and Georgia where Black people have retained their African heritage through a Creole language and culture known as Gullah, I saw that the law could be used to solve many social ills. I was able to see how Black people are cut off from the justice system, but also how they can be helped by it. I was able to see the power of lawyers after reading about Charles Hamilton Houston’s and Thurgood Marsh’s works.
Tell about the mentors who have helped you in your career. What is their best advice?
LC My mother is my biggest mentor and source of strength. Her strength, guidance and intelligence combined with her fierce determination to ensure that my brother and me understood our value, while also ensuring others saw it, would have prevented me from being here. Despite my good grades and scores on tests, administrators tried to push me into lower level classes or to deny me opportunities in a discriminatory way. My mother and dad never allowed it to happen. They set high standards that helped me graduate with honors in every grade.
Cleveland Sellars was my mentor at the University of South Carolina. He was the former director of USC’s African American Studies Program. Sellars is the only person to have been convicted of and imprisoned in connection with the Orangeburg Massacre. This was a 1968 civil right protest where three students were murdered by state troopers. Ultimately, he was unfairly and racially targeted because of his efforts to advance civil rights in his role as a leader with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Bobby Donaldson was another, one of USC’s first African American Professors who oversees the Center for Civil Rights History and Research.
These men, who were my father and mother, had instilled in myself a sense of confidence and respect for my heritage and history, continued this on a collegiate level. My parents did eventually earn college degrees but they didn’t have the same path to achieve that. I was therefore a first generation student at USC, with no one to help me prepare for college and definitely not graduate school. These two men filled in the gaps and I’m so grateful for their advice.
In the same tradition, I have continued to be mentored by Foley. Phil Goldberg and Jeanne Gills are among the most outstanding lawyers I have ever met. They have all taken me under their wing and offered true sponsorship. The wisdom I have received has been so vast that it is impossible to list just one. However, the best advice I have received was about managing relationships. This includes being hyper-responsive with clients and how best to guide and train juniors.
AALM What has changed in your career since you graduated law school?
LCI was hoping to be a civil-rights attorney like my heroes Charles Hamilton Houston and Thurgood Marsh. When I began working at Foley I discovered that corporate litigation is not only interesting but also challenging. I didn’t think I would like the work, or be in a corporate litigious setting, as much as i do. I learned how many corporations give to and support social causes. I’ve been involved with both Foley and client initiatives that promote racial equality, diversity and inclusion. This has allowed me to continue giving back even though I work at a corporate firm.
AALM : How are you involved with the local community
LC: Earlier this year, I was elected to a three-year term as a member of the board of directors of Interfaith Action for Human Rights, a 501(c)(3) prison reform coalition active in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. The organization represents people of faith who educate and advocate for correction systems that avoid unnecessarily punitive practices such as solitary confinement and that instead focus on rehabilitation and successful reentry.
I am also part of the leadership council at Miriam’s Kitchen, a nonprofit dedicated to providing people who are homeless (particularly veterans) with nutritious meals, securing permanent secure housing and advocating for the Washington, D.C. government to make investments in the housing programs that are most proven to end homelessness. I’ve served with Miriam’s Kitchen for more than seven years and I launched an annual Family Picnic fundraiser to secure new sponsorships to support additional residents in their transition from a life on the streets to a safe, stable home.
Additionally, I volunteer with College Bound, Inc., a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization that offers public and public charter school diverse students in grades 8-12 academic enrichment and resources to prepare for and succeed in college.
AALM: Can you tell us about your pro bono work?
LC: Pro bono work is extremely important to me. A few years ago, I was able to secure U-Visa for a Mongolian student who was assaulted and later cooperated with police, allowing her lawful residence and an opportunity to complete her studies and build her life in the United States.
I’ve taken on several pro bono matters for prison inmates, including when I represented several deaf inmates in Maryland who were victims of ADA violations, securing $142,500 in settlement funds and various reforms in the prison system for treatment of deaf and hard of hearing inmates.
Although my practice focuses on commercial litigation, I’ve still pursued my passion for civil rights. I hope to continue to use my privilege as an attorney at a prominent firm to help right the wrongs of systemic and institutional racism through my continued charitable work, pro bono work, and efforts to increase minority lawyers in the legal profession.
AALM: Can you tell us more about Foley’s Racial Justice and Equity Practice Group? Why was it created and what is its purpose?
LC: In 2020, amid the pandemic and calls for action on police violence and racial discrimination, two colleagues and I wrote an open letter to the firm outlining an action plan that ultimately resulted in the launch of Foley’s Racial Justice and Equity Practice Group (RJEPG).
Today the RJEPG is responsible for (1) identifying potential engagements focused on racial justice and equity, including projects dedicated to fair housing, racial disparities in the provision of health care services, legal support for Black owned businesses, and criminal justice reform; (2) facilitating training for Foley lawyers and staff; (3) coordinating staffing for the various matters; and (4) providing a vehicle for the exchange of information accumulated in the course of the representation of parties in matters involving unfair and unequal treatment based on race or ethnicity.
Since its inception, the RJEPG has billed more than 3,400 hours of work on racial justice and equity issues and it has become the firm’s largest pro bono group with over 300 members.
AALM: Please tell us more about your prior experience with Obama for America, and how your efforts were featured in The Washington Post and PBS Now.
LC: During the 2008 election, I served as a regional field director and field organizer for Obama for America. The Washington Post and PBS NOW covered my organization in the key primary state of South Carolina. The Washington Post featured me in a story (“In S.C., Beauty Salons Are Also Political Soapboxes,” October 17, 2007) on President Obama’s (then Senator Obama’s) barbershop and beauty salon organizing efforts, following me to the different salons where I organized and also learning more about my motivations for joining the campaign and ultimately deferring my acceptance at Georgetown Law. The PBS NOW feature also involved a crew chronicling my work as a field organizer in Charleston, SC. Ultimately, I trained thousands of volunteers during four state primaries over the course of the election primary cycle and worked with a special committee in the campaign’s Chicago headquarters for a brief period.
During the re-election campaign in 2012, I was the deputy Get Out the Vote (GOTV) director in Philadelphia. In this capacity, I worked in the campaign’s state headquarters, managing five regional GOTV directors and collaborating with the deputy field director, state field director, and state GOTV director. I’m proud that our efforts ended up contributing to a sizable victory in the state and larger turnout than 2008.
AALM: Tell us a little about your life outside the office.
LC: My husband is also an attorney and we have two children, a 4-year-old daughter and a 10-month-old son. When we are not running around for my daughter’s activities (language classes, soccer, dance, piano, endless birthday parties, etc. ), my husband and I love to travel, eat out at restaurants, and give back to the community through church and the many social organizations we support.
AALM: What is something your colleagues would be surprised to learn about you?
LC: I loved R&B and hip hop singer, Aaliyah, growing up, and I wanted to be one of her backup dancers — even more than I wanted to be a lawyer. Aaliyah was a beautiful soul who inspired so many young girls like me. I danced for a large part of my adolescence (ballet, hip hop, jazz, tap, etc. ), and it is one passion I really wish I had not let go.
The post Lauren Champaign: Righting Wrongs & Giving Back appeared first on Attorney at Law Magazine.