THURSTON BAILEY grew up in the Midwest, Texas and North Carolina before attending college at the University of Chicago where he obtained a B.A. in Public Policy Studies. After college, Thurston worked as a financial analyst at Northern Trust in Chicago, but two years later decided to pursue a lifelong dream of becoming an attorney. After law school at the University of Michigan, Thurston practiced general litigation and labor and employment law in Houston, Texas for 9 years and then at the law firm of Schiff Hardin LLP in Chicago. Currently, Thurston serves as in-house counsel at Optiver US LLC, a company in the capital markets derivatives trading business. Over the years, Thurston has volunteered extensively with programs that have involved some aspect of education, mentorship, or trying to help kids - including chairing a program designed to help with legal representation of abused children; chairing and participating in a program offering tutoring to middle school children; volunteering as a substitute teacher; and volunteering for a program designed to encourage children to read. In his spare time, Thurston enjoys reading, recreational bike riding and photography.