Summary
Justice Robert Thomas is a member of Taft’s Appellate group and has a long and storied career in the law and in sports.
Justice Thomas graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1974, where he was an Academic All-American. He kicked the winning field goal in the 1973 National Championship Game vs. Alabama and set many Notre Dame kicking records. Justice Thomas then played in the National Football League for 12 years, including 10 with the Chicago Bears. He is the 5th leading scorer in Bear’s history.
After law school, Justice Thomas was a practicing attorney in the area of civil litigation. He was elected DuPage County Circuit Court Judge on November 8, 1988, where he presided over civil jury trials. He was the acting Chief Judge until he became a Justice of the Illinois Appellate Court for the Second District from 1994 through 2000. Justice Thomas was elected Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court for the Second District on November 7, 2000. He was Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court from 2005 through 2008.
Justice Thomas has been awarded numerous achievements in both his legal and athletic careers. In April 1996, he was inducted into the Academic All-American Hall of Fame. In January 1999, he was awarded the prestigious NCAA Silver Anniversary Award. In 2001, he was named the DuPage County Bar Association Lawyer of the Year, and in December 2005, he was honored with the Illinois Judges Association Recognition for Professionalism and Civility. Justice Thomas was named a Distinguished Jurist at Loyola University in 2006 and was named the Judge of the Year in 2008 by the Illinois Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates. In 2012, Justice Thomas was inducted into the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame. He was a recipient of the Lincoln Laureate Award in 2022.
In February 2020, Justice Thomas retired from the Illinois Supreme Court and has been in private practice since. A biography, “A View from Two Benches: Bob Thomas in Football and the Law,” was published in May 2020.
Awards
Honoree, Leading Lawyers Network (2025 – present)
Honoree, Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers (2026)
All Service Areas
All Practices
Education
- Loyola University Chicago School of Law (1981)
- University of Notre Dame (1974)
B.A., Government
Academic All-American
Admissions
- State - Illinois
Professional Affiliations
- Illinois State Bar Association
Member
- DuPage County Bar Association
Member