Thomas B. Quinn

Tom Quinn loves the art of persuasion. He got his first lessons in this critical skill through door-to-door campaigning in college for candidates who had dreams of changing the world through public service, and later by gathering thousands of petition signatures for initiative campaigns to reform state government. Through all those one-on-one encounters with everyday people in their homes, on street corners, or in meeting halls, Tom learned what it takes to move a person to support a point of view or a cause.

The fire and conviction that fueled his civic activism are the same qualities that make Tom a tireless and effective advocate for his clients in private practice. Timidity has never been one of his problems; in one of his first cases as a junior associate, he and two other young lawyers sued the Illinois legislature to prevent the payment of public funds for a legislative junket to the California wine country.

Years later, in what eventually resulted in landmark litigation, Tom defended a First and Fourteenth Amendment constitutional challenge to the fair housing programs of nine local governments through an extended trial, a Seventh Circuit appeal, and a petition for certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Tom has forged his reputation as a commercial litigator over more than four decades of trying and winning cases at all levels in state and federal trial courts around the country and in forums like the International Trade Commission. But he also understands that every dispute does not require the time, expense, and disruption of extended pre-trial and trial proceedings. Through his experience with high stakes commercial mediations and alternative dispute resolution proceedings before International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution (CPR Institute), the American Arbitration Association, and JAMS, Tom knows how to obtain a successful result for his clients before the cost of litigation overwhelms its risks or rewards.