Donald A. Tarkington

Overview

Don Tarkington is a senior trial lawyer and Managing Partner of the firm.

He maintains an active trial practice and has over 30 years experience litigating major matters and resolving disputes for clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to closely held businesses.

Don is recognized as one of the top commercial litigators in Illinois by Super Lawyers and The Leading Lawyers Network and has been awarded these honors every year for the past 13 years. He was named to the “Best Lawyers of America" list in 2017 and 2018 in the area of real estate litigation by the Best Lawyers organization.

Don is a seasoned trial lawyer with a reputation for understanding and creatively achieving his clients’ business objectives through litigation, arbitration or settlement. He has been entrusted by clients in diverse industries to represent them as plaintiffs and defendants in multimillion dollar matters and in disputes which threaten the existence of their business. He has successfully represented businesses and individuals in disputes concerning breach of contract, intellectual property, real estate, professional liability and closely held businesses. Don has successfully:

• Represented Citadel LLC in a national class action captioned, In re Biozoom, Inc. Securities Litigation;
• Represented one of the largest restaurant companies in the world, helping it resolve multiple commercial disputes;
• Represented publicly traded and private companies in national class action litigation;
• Defended a major television news network and internationally known musical artists against claims of copyright and trademark infringement;
• Represented manufacturers, service companies and software developers in connection with protecting mission critical trade secrets;
• Represented owners and developers of real estate in connection with disputes relating to leasing, zoning and financing;
• Defended a large publicly traded financial institution against claims relating to the origination and sale of commercial loans;
• Defended lawyers and major law firms in connection with multi-million dollar professional liability claims and partnership disputes; and
• Represented owners of closely-held businesses in disputes concerning the operation of their businesses and their rights in the business vis a vis the other owners.

Don is also active in his community. He served as a member of the Board of Education for the Evanston/Skokie Consolidated School District 65 where he was Chair of the Finance Committee. He also served as Co-Chair of the District 65 Referendum Committee and is a past President of Foundation 65, an educational foundation he helped found which supports the Evanston public schools and its teachers. Don also served on the Board of Directors for the McGaw YMCA and currently chairs the long-range planning committee for the McGaw YMCA Children’s Center.

EDUCATION

• Indiana University (B.S. 1978)
• Northwestern University (J.D. 1983); first place, Miner Moot Court Competition; William Jennings Bryan Award and Lowden-Wigmore Prize for excellence in oral and written advocacy; represented Northwestern University Law School in the National Moot Court Competition