Noted lesbian lawyer Cindy Hyndman died due to an unexpected pulmonary embolism March 16 in Liverpool, U.K. while on vacation with her partner Dillan Siegler. She was 68.
Hyndman was born Oct. 12, 1956, in Gary, Indiana and moved to Syracuse, Indiana where she attended Wawasee High School. She graduated from Shimer College, A.B. with distinction, honors in humanities in 1978 and got her cum laude juris doctorate degree in 1982 from the University of Wisconsin Law School.
Hyndman began her law career as an associate at Peterson Ross Schloerb & Seidel in Chicago from 1982-1986. She moved on to First National Bank of Chicago where she worked as one of their counsels from 1986-1991, and briefly worked at Shilepsky, Messing & Rudavsky in Boston as an associate.
From 1992 until her death, Hyndman worked at Robinson Curley P.C. where she was a shareholder; served as president of the firm; and worked tirelessly as an accomplished trial lawyer in employment discrimination, other civil rights issues and commercial matters in administrative agencies and state and federal courts throughout the U.S.
Hyndman successfully argued CBOCS West, Inc. v. Humphries case in February 2008 before the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of Hedrick Humphries. The court issued a 7-2 ruling that affirmed the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals which found Humphries was retaliated against by CBOCS West, Inc. when he complained to his supervisors about another Black employee at the company who was fired due to her race.
Among Hyndman’s other accomplishments was her status as Illinois’ “Super Lawyer” in employment and labor matters each year from 2005-2025. She was also a Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders Litigation Committee member (1991-1992); City of Chicago Mayor’s Advisory Committee on Gay and Lesbian Issues member (1994-1997); Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund Board of Directors member (1997-2003); Board Governance Committee co-chair (2001-2003), Executive Committee member (1997-2003) and Board of Directors co-chair (1999-2001); Chicago Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law Board of Directors member (2009-2014); and Board of Directors Chair in 2012 and American Constitution Society, Chicago Lawyer Chapter Board of Advisors member.
In addition to her leadership roles at Lambda Legal, she also did pro-bono work for the organization for many years representing numerous clients and authored a number of legal-journal articles.
Hyndman also gave back to Shimer College as a Board of Trustees secretary (2015-2017) and chair for a short time (2017) and Shimer College Fund Board of Trustees chair from 2017 until her death.
Hyndman met Siegler five years ago in February 2020 on the dating app HER. They started messaging each other and then Siegler had to go dark for a while because of her job responsibilities as an administrator at the University of Chicago due to the emerging COVID-19 pandemic. After Siegler’s work duties settled down and everyone was in lockdown, she started messaging Hyndman again and they didn’t miss a beat. They finally met up in person to take a walk in the Hyde Park neighborhood where Siegler lived in May of 2020. Hyndman met Siegler’s parents that same day and they accepted her right away.
From that moment on, Hyndman and Siegler decided to be each other’s COVID pod, and their relationship grew. Siegler said they created a love calendar to mark each milestone in their romantic relationship, both big and small moments. They officially became girlfriends on June 18, 2020, and five days later said “I love you” to each other. From the beginning they got to know each other’s friends. and Siegler grew close to Hyndman’s children Rachel and Charlie Cole. They moved in together in March 2022 and when they weren’t working, spent time with family and friends and traveled to locales across America and finally the United Kingdom.
Hyndman was preceded in death by her parents James Hyndman and Sally Strole and sister Laura Keller. She is survived by Siegler, her children, brother Jeff Hyndman and countless chosen family members and friends.
Siegler said, “Meeting Cindy was a dream for me. She was so kind and accepting of me. All she wanted was my comfort and peace of mind. Cindy did everything in her power for the two of us to have a lovely, joyful and warm relationship. I was so happy to be in the world together as partners doing everything together. I felt so cared for and loved. When I had struggles, she would help me with them and vice versa. We moved to Lake View last summer and created a home together. We loved our life so much especially after recently going through hard times where both of us beat cancer. What was important to her was important to me.”
Charlie Cole said, “My mom is one of the most caring, kind and smartest people I know. She taught me how to work hard and how to apply that hard work to the important problems of the world.”
Longtime friend Coco Soodek said “Cindy fought in the courts for LGBT equality, as a lawyer and a leader at Lambda Legal. But she also had children and lived in the suburbs as an out and proud lesbian. At the end of the 20th century, that was its own revolutionary act. It is hard to remember how gutsy it was just for gay people to insist on the quiet right to have an American family. As a community, we achieved monumental progress because of these intimate acts of courage.”
Robinson Curley P.C. shareholder and friend Robert Margolis said, “It has been one of my great professional honors to work side-by-side with Cindy for 30 years. She embodied all the qualities you would want in this profession. She fiercely and fearlessly advocated for her clients, was skilled at all aspects of the practice, took strong and principled stands for the causes she believed in, and exuded empathy, warmth, and humor at every turn. I know I speak for everyone at our firm when I say we are devastated right now.”
Longtime friend and legal colleague Marni Willenson said “Cindy served as my co-counsel in multiple civil rights cases. She was a compassionate, eloquent, and extraordinarily effective attorney. She had an inherent optimism, likely innate and then reinforced by her many wins, including before the United States Supreme Court. This is a person who could appear at a hearing with you, or at a conference with the court or opposing counsel, and be tough as nails, then go out for gin with storytelling and laughs. She was full of life, and she will be sorely missed by me and our clients.”
Robinson Curley P.C. remembered Hyndman on the firm’s website: “Cindy was the firm’s president, our colleague and most of all, a beloved friend. She was a fantastic lawyer … Cindy always connected with her clients on a personal level, treating each one with respect and more importantly, compassion. She was a kind person and had a wonderful heart and happiness about her. We will miss her terribly.”
The family has asked that in lieu of flowers, people should make a donation to Lambda Legal to support their efforts to fight anti-LGBTQ discrimination.
A celebration of life will take place April 5 at 11 a.m. Please email rsvp@cindy4ever.com for location information.
