You often hear the saying “work your way up,” a success story Lauren E. Edmunds truly embodies as she started her career with Meyers & Flowers at just 19 years old as an intern. Now over half a decade later, Lauren’s determination and ambition earned her the title of Associate Attorney at Meyers & Flowers.
Since beginning her practice at the firm she has taken on cases ranging from clergy sex abuse, a handful of auto accidents, tragic medical malpractice claims, some work with our business litigation team, but mostly pursing her passion of handling workers’ compensation claims. In her 9 months as an attorney, she has earned more than $1,127,069 for her clients with her passion for providing fierce advocacy and standing up for the underrepresented being her driving force.
When asked who has helped guide her over this past year, she immediately blurted, “Definitely Greg Booth! He has been my teacher, and Ryan of course. He has always been my teacher.” Ryan P. Theriault is a seasoned personal injury and workers’ compensation litigator having represented thousands who have been harmed by the negligence of others since Meyers & Flowers inception in 2013. As Lauren’s cousin, he filled family parties with stories about the profession and opened her eyes to the legal industry. From the day that she told him that she wanted to follow in his footsteps and go to law school, he wanted to show her what that truly means. “He’s taught me and continues to teach me everything I need to know about being a lawyer.”
Lauren has known Gregory H. Booth since her internship, almost 7 years now, during which time he has severed as her mentor. Greg spends much of his time helping our country’s civil servants with their workers’ compensation claims. As a daughter of a sheet metal worker who experienced first-hand what a workplace injury can do financially to a family, Lauren found a special interest in protecting the rights of injured workers. Greg showed her the ropes on how to do so. “I go to him with all my questions,” said Lauren. “He’s been such a good teacher. His philosophy is that he doesn’t want to just throw me to the wolves. He will show me how to do it once and then it is my turn. He has been good about teaching and preparing me, then letting me take the reins and do it myself.”
Lauren grew up in Streamwood and is where she currently resides. She attended North Central College for undergrad where she majored in political science with her sights fixated on becoming a lawyer. While working towards her bachelor’s degree, she would spend her evenings in class and her days at Meyers & Flowers learning the industry from the ground up.
As she furthered grew in her career, earning the position of Law Clerk, Lauren continuing along the road to her Juris Doctor degree. She chose to attend Northern Illinois University College of Law for her legal studies. After countless hours in the law library with a lot of pizza and caffeine, she graduated with honors and passed the bar exam in October 2020. Shortly after, she returned to Meyers & Flowers to learn the ropes before being sworn in in January.
Ever since, Lauren has hit the ground running. In just 9 months since beginning practicing, she has handled over 100 workers’ compensation claims. When I asked Lauren about what it is like working in that practice area, she was quick to respond. “Workers’ compensation claims may not be the big flashy numbers you see plastered on billboards, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t important and that these people don’t deserve our help. I think the biggest thing is helping people get back to work because it is the stability that shows they can continue to provide for their families. That stability means everything to them. My goal is to help people find that every day.”
Since joining the profession, she has participated in several professional associations, including the Chicago Bar Association, American Association for Justice, Workers’ Compensation Lawyers Association, Kane County Bar Association and the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association – to name a few.
To further her busy schedule, Lauren recently joined the Mentoring Program for students at NIU College of Law, a program she had the pleasure of participating in herself during her studies. During her first year in law school, Lauren enrolled in the program and was paired with a professional in the field as a mode to “answer any questions about law school, practicing, getting internships, and taking the bar.” Now the roles have reversed as she is now paired with a first-year law student.
Lauren is excited to help someone who has been in their shoes because “although I am new to the field, I know what it’s like. I know exactly what the bar is like and to study day in and day out. I’m her real-world guide. Law school is kind of like a bubble and not like the real world, so I am going to help her get a sense of the outside legal world. Just as Lauren has stayed connected with her mentor over the years, she plans on doing the same with her mentee: “I’m with her for life, she’s my mentee!”
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Interview with Cameron Tanko, Marketing Director