J. Kent Mathewson has winning verdicts in more than 50 cases for a wide variety of clients ranging from product manufacturers, physicians, and law firms, to the Chicago White Sox Baseball Club. He has successfully represented at trial both plaintiffs and defendants in a variety of business, commercial, and intellectual property disputes in state and federal courts. As part of his frequent defense of professional negligence and product liability claims, he has developed special expertise in the defense of ophthalmologists and ophthalmic device manufacturers, having obtained over twenty successful jury verdicts in such matters alone.

In recent years, Mr. Mathewson has continued an active trial practice in a variety of jurisdictions and achieved victories in jury cases saving his clients over $40 million in requested damages. In just the last two years, Mr. Mathewson has obtained jury verdicts in six ophthalmology cases. In 2007, based on his trial success, Mr. Mathewson was named Attorney of the Year in Illinois by American Physicians Assurance. In 2006, Mr. Mathewson successfully tried six jury cases in state and federal courts ranging from allegations of business torts and breach of contract to medical malpractice cases involving ophthalmology, emergency medicine, stroke and vascular disease. In the same year he also obtained summary judgment in the defense of a legal malpractice case seeking in excess of $30 million in damages.

His expertise has been recognized as an invited speaker before various professional groups, including the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the Illinois Association of Ophthalmologists, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, and the Chicago Bar Association.

Mr. Mathewson has been named a Leading Lawyer in the areas of Commercial Litigation, Medical Malpractice Defense Law, and Products Liability Defense Law. The list of Leading Lawyers is the result of thousands of contacts with Illinois lawyers asking them which of their peers they believe comprise the top lawyers. Only those lawyers who are most often recommended qualify as Leading Lawyers. He has also been named a Super Lawyer in Illinois in the area of Civil Litigation Defense. Super Lawyers are the top 5 percent of attorneys in each state, as chosen by their peers and through the independent research of Law & Politics.

Mr. Mathewson was one of the founding partners of the firm in 1995. He was previously a partner with Baker & McKenzie, a firm he joined in 1982 after he received his law degree from the University of Chicago. He received his undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College (cum laude and with distinction). He is a former President of the Trial Lawyers Club of Chicago and has served as Chairman of the firm’s Management Committee. Mr. Mathewson also is a member of the Colorado Bar.

Active in the community, he has served as a member and as the Chairman of the Winnetka Community House Board of Governors and as a member of the school board at the School of Saints Faith, Hope and Charity. Mr. Mathewson has coached more than twenty youth hockey and soccer teams.