DeKALB, IL – From a very early age, Kristin Hoffman knew she wanted to be a lawyer. After a volleyball career at Northern Illinois University that saw her dish out over 4,000 assists from 2008 to 2011 and earn numerous athletic and academic honors, the 2012 graduate is making that dream happen at Adler Murphy & McQuillen in Chicago.
"My dad's a lawyer, so I grew up watching him and listening to him," Hoffman said. "After he worked for a few different firms he became self-employed, so his office is connected to my parents' house and I kind of absorbed what he did. All the reading and writing, talking to people and helping them were appealing to me."
Hoffman finished her playing career as one of the top setters in NIU volleyball history. She graduated second on the career assists list with 4,392. A two-time First Team All-Mid American Conference selection, Hoffman became the first NIU setter to earn MAC Setter of the Year honors in 2011 when she led the nation with 12.27 assists per set. With Hoffman running the NIU offense, the Huskies went 28-7 that season and won the MAC West and regular-season titles with a 14-2 league record. That resume helped NIU get back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 10 years.
"We really wanted to get back to the level of success the program had been at," said Hoffman about her playing days. "We just put in the work and started having open gyms in the summers and focusing on weight room progress and all the little things collectively as a group. We believed we had the potential and that is actually happened our senior year is really so special. The banner's still hanging in the gym when we leave, and it's something that I hope all the student-athletes after us can work towards."
Her achievements on the court were matched by her accomplishments in the classroom. Hoffman graduated summa cum laude in 2012 with a Bachelor's Degree in history. Along with teammate Allison McGlaughlin, Hoffman was one of the first two NIU volleyball players in program history to be named to the Academic All-MAC Team in all three years of eligibility. They were also the first teammates in NIU and MAC history to be named to the Capital One Academic All-America teams in 2011, with Hoffman on the First Team for her second Academic All-America honor and McLaughlin on the Third Team. Hoffman was also a top-30 finalist for the NCAA Woman of the Year in 2012.
On top of all that, Hoffman was named the MAC's female Bob James Memorial Award winner in 2012 and was awarded a post-graduate scholarship. She also earned an NCAA postgraduate scholarship and applied both to her law studies at Marquette University Law School. Hoffman graduated from Marquette in 2015 and returned to Illinois where she passed the bar exam and began working at a firm in Aurora, near her hometown of Batavia, before moving on to Adler Murphy & McQuillen in June of 2018.
"I was looking for an opportunity to practice law on a broader scope," Hoffman said. "We do a lot of federal court work which I wanted to get involved with and I liked the reputation the firm had. Right now I'm mostly focused on representing aviation-related clients, whether that be regional or national airlines or product manufacturers related to aviation."
Now that she's a lawyer in her own right, Hoffman is finding that working in the law is all that she thought it would be and the perfect job her her.
"I like helping people," she said. "I like reading and writing and talking, to say the least. I felt like the law would give me opportunities to do all those things. Right now I'm just thrilled I get the opportunity to learn something new literally every day. That's an exciting thing about practicing law is that each case presents its own facts and legal issues. I'm happy with where I'm at in my career."
