Thomas Q. Keefe, Jr. will be awarded the prestigious Leonard M. Ring Lifetime Achievement Award at the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association (ITLA) convention on Friday, June 5, 2015. The convention will be held at the Hilton Oak Brook Hills Resort in Oak Brook, Illinois.
The criteria of the award are as follows:
“This award is given annually at the convention banquet to someone selected by a committee appointed by the president. The recipient is someone who has devoted, as Leonard did, a substantial part of their life and their practice to ITLA, someone who has done more than is called for. Someone who had the standards of Leonard, the work ethics of Leonard and the commitment to ITLA that Leonard had. At the same time, it keeps alive the memory of Leonard Ring.”
Thomas Keefe, 62, received his undergraduate degree from Boston College. In 1978, Keefe earned his law degree from St. Louis University and was admitted to the Illinois bar.
After law school, Keefe worked for a law firm located in St. Louis for a brief time. Shortly thereafter, he opened his own law office in Belleville, Illinois. In 1982, Keefe became a partner at Cook, Shevlin and Keefe.
In 1992, Keefe returned to solo practice until he was joined by his son in 2007. He has been handling high stakes complex personal injury law on behalf of plaintiffs for nearly 35 years. He has compiled a remarkable record including numerous verdicts and settlements. Keefe’s cases range from medical negligence to products liability to vehicle and truck accidents to construction injuries to claims against railroads.
Keefe has been a member of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association since 1996 and currently sits on ITLA’s Board of Managers. He is also a member of the American Association for Justice (AAJ), the Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA), and served for six months as Dean of St. Louis University Law School.
Keefe is consistently named as one of America’s top lawyers and has been a Super Lawyer since 2007. Every year since 2011, his peers voted him as the Best Downstate Consumer Lawyer, one of the Top 10 personal injury plaintiffs’ lawyers, Top 10 consumer lawyers and Top 10 of all lawyers in the state of Illinois. He has received Martindale Hubbell’s highest rating for more than 30 years. He also received the Mary Alyce Beardslee Award from Madison County Catholic Charities in 2010. He has been the recipient of numerous honors including the Madison County Person of the Year, the Richard Hudlin Memorial Award and the Bartylak Award.
Keefe has given hundreds of lectures and presentations and has written extensively.
“Over the years I have been privileged to represent victims of medical and corporate wrongdoing,” said Keefe. “I sincerely believe many of my successes have largely been due to the quality of the cases, which is why I am so humbled and surprised to receive such a prestigious award.”
Keefe has been married for 36 years and has four children. In his spare time he enjoys exercise and politics.
Past Leonard M. Ring Lifetime Achievement Award recipients include Jon G. Carlson, Rex Carr, Robert J. Cooney, Philip H. Corboy, George J. Cullen, Joseph R. Curcio, David A. Decker, James Thomas Demos, Geoffrey L. Gifford, William J. Harte, Thomas F. Londrigan, Philip F. Maher, Nicholas J. Motherway, Nat P. Ozmon, Eugene I. Pavalon, John G. Phillips, Kim E. Presbrey, Anthony C. Raccuglia, Curt N. Rodin, Larry R. Rogers, Sr. and Michael P. Schostok.
– Illinois Trial Lawyers Association
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