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Assistant Division Chief, Family Preservation Division
Marion County Public Defender Agency
Kristina Frey walked away from a lucrative career marketing medical devices to pursue one of the more thankless and emotionally draining legal practices — child welfare. But she’s excelled at it, becoming one of only two attorneys in the state to earn the child welfare law specialist certification. Colleagues say her dedication to her clients is matched only by her near-boundless energy. As a litigator, Frey typically spends her days bouncing from hearings to mediations and back to hearings, with client communications sandwiched in between. After spending all day at the office, Frey, a dedicated power lifter, works out in the evening, then continues working into the night. All this while also being a mother to her teenage daughter. “I like to joke that you have to be a little crazy to do this job,” she said. “But that means that I get to work with a bunch of colleagues who are also a little bit crazy in the exact same way I am. I can be 100% authentically me at the MCPDA.”
Givebacks: In addition to her full-time job, Frey has served as the president of the Washington Township Schools Board of Education since last July.
First job: grocery store cashier
Motivation: “I wanted to do something where the goal wasn’t simply optimizing a [profit and loss statement] and executive bonuses.”
Favorite thing: Among others, “That moment when you are talking to a client and you can literally see it in their eyes when they truly realize that you are actually really there for them and to fight for them and they take that to heart. There’s nothing like that moment.”
Mentors: “All my peers at MCPDA who never back down from a hard fight and are absolutely fearless advocates and litigators,” Frey said. “Every time I see one of my colleagues in a righteous rage, whether it’s a first-year attorney or a 30-year attorney, it keeps my own inspiration lit.”
Favorite de-stressors: “A really intense workout.”•
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