Today we begin our series of profiles of remarkable women in Acadiana. It's part of News 10's parent company Nexstar's tribute to remarkable women throughout the country. Local winners get to compete for a national title.

LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) -- Today we begin our series of profiles of remarkable women in Acadiana. It's part of News 10's parent company Nexstar's tribute to remarkable women throughout the country. Local winners get to compete for a national title.

Our first finalist we're featuring was only in the 5th grade when she read John Grisham's, The Client, and knew she wanted to be an attorney. But an early pregnancy forced the UL-Lafayette student to dropout out, delay law school, get a job and raise her child. And that's just the beginning of her story.

Dene Thibeaux recalls, her 10 years in customer service saying her goal was to return to college and finish her undergrad degree.

"I just never had the opportunity to do so until I was almost 30 years old," said Thibeaux.

By this time the Lafayette native was married, working fulltime and raising her first son.

"Actually wanted to become a lawyer in the fifth grade. I read The Client by John Grisham, and I was like, that’s what I want to do. And for some reason or another, I just gave up on that dream. I just didn't think it was possible with my circumstances at that time. I had to work full time," Thibeaux explained.

Her desire to help others went beyond customer service at a Cingular Wireless call center. She wanted to have a bigger impact practicing law and answer what she says was her true calling.

"Being a single mother myself, going thru court for child support and custody and all that. I'm not here to talk legalese and make it so difficult for you to understand the process. I want you to know I was there, and I put my heart and passion into providing you with some type of relief," said Thibeaux.

She went to LSU law in 2013, commuted every day from Lafayette to Baton Rouge and had two children at that time. Her youngest was in pre-K when she started at law school, so Thibeaux and her husband juggled all of that before she began her law career at Acadiana Legal Service, a non-profit organization that provides free legal aid in civil matters to poor people.

“Public interest feels like a calling to me. It's like a passion project, to be honest," Thibeaux said.

She would later join an established law firm and hold a lucrative position only to leave there and rejoin staff at ALS.  

"Everybody should have the avenue to get the types of results they need through the judicial system. So that's what led me back," she explained.

The family law attorney has been an advocate for both mothers and fathers fighting for and deserving of visitation and child custody. One area she's had the biggest impact is in fathers' visitation rights. She says not all fathers are deadbeat dads and in far too many cases, mothers use their children as a tool to inflict pain and suffering on dads or other family members who are deserving of visitation or custody. Thibeaux gets emotional talking about memorable and successful cases she's handled.

"It was a grandmother who wanted visitation with her granddaughter, and her daughter had just died in a car accident, and it was maybe a couple months after my sister passed in a car accident as well. So, when I took on that case, I was emotionally invested, and we actually got a good outcome for her," said Thibeaux.

Thibeaux remains humble about all she's accomplished, giving credit to her co-workers, the legal service staff, her family and her community. When told her husband nominated her for the award she was excited.

"I'm so, I'm so excited. When I heard that, I was like, what makes me special?  Like, you know, I just do what I love every day and you don't think anything is special. And then you realize, okay, you really are impacting a lot of people's lives this way," Thibeaux expressed.

The winner of our Remarkable Women campaign gets to enjoy an all-expense paid trip to compete in the national competition in Los Angeles this spring. You can watch our finalists' profiles every Tuesday of this month during Passe Partout, and News 10 at 5 and 10 p.m.

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