Teigue Thomas works as hard outside the office as she does in it. Besides being the associate general counsel for Gateway Inc., she is an active board member and fund-raiser for the San Diego Bar Foundation, vice president/president-elect of the Association of Corporate Counsel and the mother of a 1-year-old son. “Yes, my son keeps me pretty busy,” she says with a chuckle.

Thomas has always been enthusiastic about the law. “In college I decided that I liked being an advocate for different causes and making positive changes,” she says. “That’s akin to what a lawyer does. Because I had a business undergraduate degree, becoming a corporate attorney seemed a great way to blend these fields.”

As one of Gateway’s top lawyers, she is one of the highest-ranking women at Gateway, a Fortune 500 company. She is responsible for ethics, privacy, marketing and regulatory issues. “I deal with all the regulatory agencies and make sure we stay in compliance,” she says.

She discovered, though, that her field had one small deficit. “Being a corporate lawyer, I don’t get to do as much pro bono work as I like to do,” she says. “So I found another outlet to help the community as a whole.”

As a member of the San Diego Bar Foundation board, she raises funds to benefit San Diego organizations that deliver legal services to San Diego County residents who could not otherwise afford representation. Last year, the foundation distributed more than $100,000 to these groups. As the co-chair for the 2003 and 2004 San Diego Black & White Ball, sponsored by the Association of Corporate Counsel, she has assisted in raising $37,000 for Becky’s House and more than $20,000 for Voices for Children.

“These two groups are a great way to blend my legal background with a desire to help others,” she says. “It’s a satisfying thing to help people.”

— Patricia Morris Buckley