Deputy public defender named

ECSU, Regent grad Strobel joins EC office

Lauren Strobel first knew she wanted to be an attorney when she was in high school.

That’s why she began taking college courses at both College of The Albemarle and Elizabeth City State University at age 17, graduated from ECSU after three years with a degree in criminal justice, and completed law school at Regent University in nearby Virginia Beach at age 23.

Strobel, now 24, realized her dream several weeks ago, when a district court judge administered to her the oath to uphold the state and federal constitutions that all attorneys practicing in North Carolina’s courts are required to take.

She realized a second dream on Monday, when District Court Judge Edgar Barnes swore her in again — this time as an assistant public defender in the First Judicial District. She will be working as one of 10 assistant public defenders in the seven-county district, defending crime suspects who are unable to afford a private attorney.

“It’s very exciting,” Strobel said of her new job. “I’ve been working toward this for so long and just knowing I wanted to be an attorney, it’s really exciting to get started and dive right in.”

Strobel says she gained a lot of practical experience working last summer on the other side of the law — as an intern in the District Attorney’s Office.

“It really was a good opportunity for me to see how both sides of the law — both prosecution and defense — work together to give the final result of justice the best that they can,” Strobel said.

That experience in the District Attorney’s Office also convinced her that her future as a lawyer would be in the courtroom.

“My ultimate goal … is to be a judge one day, and so when I started out I wasn’t really sure like what kind of law I wanted to go into,” Strobel says. “But after interning with the District Attorney’s Office, I realized that I wanted to be in the courtroom as much as possible.”

Strobel said she handed Public Defender Andrew Womble her resume after finding out about a new assistant public defender position that had been created in his office.

“I was surprised (about the opening) because the … state’s budget’s been pretty tight,” she said. “So when they did have an opening I was really excited to be able to come in” and apply.

Womble said he met Strobel when she was working as an intern for the District Attorney’s Office, and found her to be honest and fair.

“She did an outstanding job,” he said. “(She) was very fair, showed a real aptitude for the criminal defense, (and) picked up on things very quickly.”

Womble said Strobel was his top choice for the opening for several reasons.

“(She) was at the top of the list not only because of her qualifications, but because of her willingness to be located here in Elizabeth City,” he said.

Womble said he was looking for someone who would be eager to stay in the area for a while, which Strobel is because of her family connections here.

Strobel, who has lived in the area since she was 11, has family here and she and her husband, Brad, are expecting their first child, a daughter, on Christmas Day.

In addition, Womble’s other assistant public defenders liked Strobel and believed she would fit in well with the office’s mission, he said.

Strobel joins two other assistant public defenders in Womble’s Elizabeth City office. The other seven work out of offices in Dare and Chowan counties.

“That’s a small group so compatibility is a very important thing for a group of our size,” Womble said.

Strobel says she’s happy with her career choices.

She chose to attend Regent University for law school, she said, because the school had a great reputation — one of her professors was former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft — and it was close enough for daily commutes. Still, she stayed on the run.

“So if I wasn’t driving and I wasn’t in class, I was studying,” Strobel said.

She says law school lived up to its imposing reputation.

“It’s pretty terrible, honestly,” Strobel said. “...It’s a huge commitment and it pretty much will consume your entire life until you graduate.”

She credits her family and husband, whom she married before she started law school, with helping her complete her studies and graduate.