Q&A: Patrick Stanton
Age: 45.
Family: He and his wife, Karen, have five children: Tommy, 9, Burke, 7, John, 4, and Peter and Ellie, both 2.
Education: He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1988 and his law degree in 1993 from Loyola University Chicago School of Law.
Profession: He is the office managing member of Dykema's Chicago office. He primarily represents businesses involved in commercial litigation before federal and state courts as well as alternative dispute resolution organizations such as the American Arbitration Association. He has experience successfully defending claims brought under the Illinois Consumer Fraud Act at the trial and appellate level. He has prosecuted and defended matters involving theft of trade secrets and violations of employee noncompetition agreements.
1. Why did you become a lawyer?
It's the answer I give on my job interviews; it's true but it sounds strange. I was a great books major in college and I was all very theoretical and out there. And then after college I was a department store manager for Carson's. There was nothing theoretical. It was working in the trenches.
I managed bed and bath, gifts and stationary and children's departments. I figured there had to be something in the middle that would satisfy my interests in theory and logic as well as dealing with people and business. Law seemed to be a perfect marriage between the two. And it's actually strangely worked out as I hoped.
2. What's the strangest thing that's happened to you as a lawyer?
When I was a first-year lawyer I was representing a large corporation during labor unrest. I had to go to a hearing related to this nationwide strike. I was driving down to Springfield with a partner who was smaller than I am, which is hard to do sometimes. And we were then in a room with 200 union members and we were fighting their unemployment benefits during the strike. And when we went to leave they created a wall that we had to walk through. I sat in back of the car watching to make sure no one was following us when we drove off …
3. What's your favorite movie, theatre production, TV show or book about lawyers and why?
I really enjoyed reading "The Nine" about the Supreme Court. I was impressed with the court and disappointed with the court. I saw, at least from the author's perspective, that there was an awful lot of politics involved in the court's decisions. Who knows if that's true? It's well-written and he covered the Bush-Gore election case, which I found pretty fascinating.
4. If you could have lunch with anyone, living or dead, who would it be and why?
President Obama.
To come from relative obscurity to the job he has now and the challenges he's faced over the last three years has been extraordinary. To hear about it and ask him about it and ask him the question: "Would you do this again?" would be fascinating to learn.
5. What advice do you have for new lawyers or law students?
Resist the urge at the beginning to specialize. Learn to be a good lawyer and experience all the different practices that there are before you specialize or if you even do. My first firm where I worked required us to practice all sorts of different areas and I think it's the best thing I ever did. It's helped me in my practice to counsel clients on more than just litigation. Because I worked on deals, because I've done counseling, because I've done labor and employment issues, it's made me a better lawyer. …
6. What's your favorite childhood vacation?
I'm the youngest of nine children; we didn't do a lot of big vacations. But when I was 8 my mother used to go down to Florida every year and pick up my grandmother and drive her home. I got it in my head that if we collected a bunch of Wheaties boxes then we could win a free ride on Amtrak and I could go with her. I begged and begged and begged and she said, no, no, no. The day she was leaving for Florida she said I could have the day off from school and go to the airport. So my mom, dad and I went to the airport and we walked down to the gate and she walked down the ramp and she turned around and said. "Look, I found an extra ticket." I said, "I don't have anything packed." And she said, "I packed for you" and off we went to Florida. …
7. What's your favorite Chicago restaurant?
Koda. It's a great local restaurant. On the South Side there aren't a whole lot of places to go to get good food. Every time I walk in there I know a bunch of people.
Photo by David Durochik