Partner

Tim is a partner in SmithAmundsen’s Chicago office. His current practice focuses primarily on construction, commercial, and large loss claims. Tim has also developed a Sports Law practice focusing on the litigation needs of players, coaches, teams and schools and serves as Chair of the firm's Sports Law practice group. Tim’s Sports Law practice is all-encompassing, but is litigation-based at its core. It spans from injuries on the athletic field (plaintiff and defense), to sports product issues, to disappointment lawsuits (lack of/misuse of an athlete's playing time), amateur representation issues (while not violating NCAA rules), NCAA/high school association violations, personal website/social networking issues, multiplier/anti-recruiting measures, recreational immunity, coach's standing to sue/file TRO's, Olympic issues, off-the-field issues during athletic trips, drug testing, construction/sports issues, and the intersection of sports/religion.

Tim serves as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Loyola University Chicago School of Law. He currently teaches courses in Sports and Entertainment Law.

In his time at SmithAmundsen, Tim has achieved success in the court room as well as positive resolution of cases through settlement. Tim’s work has been exceptional on cases involving sports, corporate litigation, construction defect and injury, commercial contract litigation, and catastrophic injury cases. Tim also serves as general counsel to the producer of numerous musical events including the Pitchfork Music Festival.

Tim’s successes do not end in serving the litigation needs of his clients. He is an accomplished legal writer, published as an author and contributor in nationally respected law reviews, periodicals, and bar association publications including the University of Virginia, the University of Texas, the Chicago Bar Association, Crain’s Chicago Business, USA Today, the University of Illinois, the University of Pittsburgh, Sports Litigation Alert, Legal Issues in Collegiate Athletics, the American Lawyer, and the Sports Business Journal. Tim has earned the respect and trust of his fellow attorneys by being selected for numerous bar association leadership positions, including his current work as the Defense Research Institute (the national defense trial bar) Sports Law Special Litigation Group Chairman. Tim was recently listed in the Sports Law Expert Witness Directory and also featured in the DRI Leadership Spotlight. Tim also currently serves as a legal analyst for Fox.

Prior to joining the firm, Tim worked as a summer associate for Donohue, Brown, Mathewson & Smyth and Corboy & Demetrio.

While attending law school, Tim was the notes editor for the Elder Law Journal, Founder/President of the Irish Law Students Association, a Cali Award Winner for Academic Excellence and a Rickert Award Winner for Excellence in Legal Publication. He was also a teaching assistant for Legal Writing at the College of Law, and Ethics in Engineering at the College of Engineering.

Speaker, "Issues in Amateur Sports Law: Disappointment Lawsuits as Viable Causes of Action," Boston College Law School, November 10, 2008.

Contributor, "Illinois Supreme Court Emphasizes Contact Sports Exception in Reversal," Sports Litigation Alert, April 11, 2008.

Author, "Case of St. Ambrose Baseball Player Meets ‘Covered Travel’ Requirements," Sports Litigation Alert, December 2007.

Contributor, "Boston College Makes Plans for Church Land," USA TODAY, December 5, 2007.

Contributor, "‘Disappointment lawsuits’ give athletes another legal option," Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal, October 29, 2007.

Co-author, “Tips for Defending Against a Premises Liability Claim in Illinois Construction Cases,” The Critical Path, September 2007.

Author, "Fix Communications (Could Chicago’s Low Disaster Readiness Score Endanger the Chances for the 2016 Games?)," Crain’s Chicago Business, January 15, 2007.

Contributor, "Athletic Departments Skirt Legal Lines in Dealing with FaceBook, Myspace," Sports Litigation Alert, September 2006.

Contributor, "Athletic Directors Can Prevent Student Athletes from Embracing MySpace, FaceBook," Legal Issues in Collegiate Athletics, July 2006.

Author, "Casino in Games Bid?," Crain’s Chicago Business, May 22, 2006.

Author, "The Impact and Implication of U.S. v. Booker: The Sixth Amendment versus Mandatory Sentencing Guidelines," Chicago Bar Association Record, 19 CBA Record 44, February/March 2005.

Author, "Splinters from the Bench: Feasibility of Lawsuits by Athletes Against Coaches and Schools for Lack of Playing Time," University of Virginia Sports and Entertainment Law Journal, Spring 4 Va. Sports & Ent. L.J. 174 (2005).

Author, "Surviving Exemption: Should the Church Exemption to ERISA Still Be in Effect?" 11 Elder Law Journal, 395-424, 2003.

Contributor and Guest Host, national Sports Law Blog (2005-current): ""That's Some Big Blood": Selig Implements HGH Testing in the Minor League," (7/22/10); ""Show me the Sanctions!": More Scandals, the Uniform Athlete Agent Act, and an Institution’s Cause of Action Against Agents and Former Players," (7/20/10); "Cause and Effect Sports Law: Who Dat Style," (1/28/10); "Taxi Cab Convictions?" (8/11/09); "Not a Problem or Not Enough Money to Fund the Program: Florida Ends HS Anabolic Steroids Testing Program," (2/18/09); ""Flyer" Goes Down: Wisconsin Supreme Court Finds Cheerleading to be a Contact Sport," (1/27/09); "Vick Files for Bankruptcy," (7/8/08); "Full Contact: The Illinois Supreme Court Elaborates on the Contact Sports Exception in Karas," (2/25/08); "Sports Mixing With Religion and Politics: Majerus, Abortion, Basketball Arenas, and Tax Abatements," (1/22/08); "Illinois Joins NJ, FL, and TX With High School Drug Testing," (1/15/08); "Making the Best of It: BC’s Bailout of Boston Archdiocese to Benefit Baseball," (12/5/07); "Tank Johnson Will Join the Bears in Miami" (1/23/07); "Is the Homeland Secure Enough for the ‘Games’?" (1/15/07); "From Vikings on Boats to Timberwolves in Cars: More Minnesota Mischief" (7/3/06); "Could Gaming Help Chicago become an "Olympic" Kind of Town?" (5/25/06); "(Un)Leveling the Playing Field: Enrollment Multipliers in High School Sports" (4/8/06); "Down with the Count: Do Weigh-In Procedures Actually Endanger Boxer Safety" (4/5/06); "MLS: Reflections on the League’s Appeal to the Mexican-American Population in Light of the Current Immigration Debate" (4/5/06); "Nospace: Is MySpace Inappropriate for Student Athlete Expression?" (4/3/06); "From Poms to Pain" (1/19/06); "The Former Athlete as Counselor" (1/18/06); and "Could Gaming Help Chicago Become an ‘Olympic’ Kind of Town" (1/16/06).

Citations to Timothy's work can be found in publications including, but not limited to, The American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review, Catholic University Law Review, Roger Williams University Law Review, St. John's Law Review, The Journal of Law and Education, Villanova Law Review, and Washington University Law Review.