Congratualtions, Cindy Kirby!
This year’s winner of the Jean Crowe Pro Bono Award goes to Cindy Kirby of Toledo, OH.
Cindy graduated from the University of Toledo with a Bachelor’s degree, Magna Cum Laude, in August 1980 at the age of 19, and from the University of Toledo College of Law with a Juris Doctor, Cum Laude, in May 1992.
For twenty-three years, Cindy was a sole practitioner with a concentration in family law. When her husband Mike retired as a Magistrate from the Lucas County Domestic Relations Court in the spring of 2016, they formed Kirby & Kirby, Ltd., where Cindy is the senior partner. She is a diligent advocate of pro bono legal services.
In April 2006, Cindy was awarded the prestigious Public Interest Law Award by the Access To Justice Committee of the Toledo Bar Association, Legal Aid of Northwest Ohio and Advocates for Basic Legal Services.
She was chosen as a year long mentor to a new lawyer for the Supreme Court of Ohio for every year that the program has been in existence. She is the past chairperson of several committees of the Toledo Bar Association and a current member of the Board of Trustees of the Toledo Bar Association.
She was awarded the Order of the Heel in May 2015 by the Toledo Junior Bar Association, of which she is very proud.
Cindy has long been a strong supporter of Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer rights. She speaks to numerous organizations and schools regarding LGBTQ legal issues, and represents LGBTQ clients in family law cases across the state of Ohio. In 2010 and 2015, she gave statewide presentations to Domestic Relations and Juvenile Court judges and magistrates on LGBTQ family law issues for the Ohio Supreme Court Judicial College.
Cindy is married to Michael D. Kirby. They have six adult children between them. They have also parented two Lebanese high school exchange students for a year each and now have both of those students living with them while they attend the University of Toledo. The family is complete with a cat named Olive and the law dog named Fiona.