WJA 2023: Austynn Hicks

Saint Louis University School of Law

Austynn Hicks first wanted to be a pediatric psychologist. Now, she’s aiming to advocate for kids as a lawyer.

The Indianapolis native graduated from an HBCU and pursued her law degree at Saint Louis University School of Law, where she was on average one of three Black students in her 1L classes.

She said growing her community helped her to continue to be inspired in law school. She was vice president of the SLU chapter of the Black Law Students’ Association. She was the Midwest regional director of the Constance Baker Motley Mock Trial Competition.

She’s also an admissions ambassador for SLU and a faculty fellow for the academic resource center and has assisted the Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion with programs. She also was a member of StreetLaw, an outreach program to teach kids in juvenile centers about the consequences of crimes.

After her 1L year, she interned with the Legal Services of Eastern Missouri’s Education Justice program. She split the summer after her 2L year between internships at the St. Louis County Counselor’s Office under Beth Orwick and for Judge Mary Ott at the St. Louis County Circuit Court.

She’s also been working in SLU’s Child Permanency Clinic under Kathryn Banks. She said her dream job is to serve as a guardian ad litem as she did in the clinic. Upon graduation, she’s seeking work in child advocacy and litigation and has an interest in education law.

“I feel like education is one of the areas that if you have a solid education system that supports you, then you can alleviate some of the other issues that come up in life,” Hicks said.

Hicks would like to thank Missouri Lawyers Media for the recognition, her parents Dr. Ivan Douglas Hicks and Christia Hicks and her family for their love and support, and mentors at SLU Law, including Mary Pat McInnis, William Johnson, JP Bonnet-Laboy, Belinda Dantley, Jon Baris, Christine Self, Shannon Morse, Antonia Miceli, Petina Benigno and Banks.