No matter where you fall on the Bill Cosby "Did he or didn't he?" divide, everybody can agree: His lawyer Monique Pressley is a badass. And choosing her to represent him may have been the smartest thing he's done since A Different World.
But who is Monique Pressley? Besides being the principal of the Pressley Firm LLC—which pretty much means she owns the joint—Pressley is also a phenomenal trial attorney, speaker, radio-show host (Breathe Through It), TV legal analyst, ordained minister (can I get an "Amen"?), mother of two, professor and leadership trainer.
She's originally from Galveston, Texas, and earned her Bachelor of Arts at St. Mary's University in San Antonio. She went on to graduate from Howard University's School of Law in Washington, D.C.
The beginning of Pressley's legal career landed her at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia. She then practiced complex civil litigation and white-collar criminal defense at a firm in Maryland before beginning her tenure with the attorney general's office in D.C.
And if that's not impressive enough, during this time, Pressley was also an adjunct professor at the same school where she received her law degree. She taught trial advocacy and coached the Trial Advocacy Moot Court Team for five years at Howard.
Pressley's plate is full; in fact, it runneth over. She's tasked with the very difficult job of defending Bill Cosby against the mounting sexual assault allegations that have piled up against him, but she's also battling public opinion. Cosby went from being black America's father to being seen as a sexual deviant and pariah. So obviously, Pressley is facing terrible scrutiny for defending him, but you can't deny her skills.
She's like a real-life Annalise Keating, from the ABC whodunit drama How to Get Away With Murder. A fast-talking, word-twisting, I-don't-know-what-the-truth-is-anymore boss. Every week, we have tuned in to the hit ABC show, wondering not only how Annalise will get her clients out of whatever legal mess they find themselves in, but also how she will get herself out of her own mess.
Pressley is tasked with a similar job: proving Bill Cosby not guilty. If anyone can handle this daunting task, it's someone like Monique Pressley.
Just check out how she's "Annalised" for Cosby's innocence: