Happy 35th Birthday, Tressler LLP!
Chicago, IL, July 26, 2021 – Tressler LLP is proud to announce that today, July 26, 2021, marks the firm’s 35th birthday. Tressler, Soderstrom, Maloney & Priess was founded in 1986 in Chicago, Illinois by a small group of driven, experienced attorneys focused on providing superior litigation and insurance legal services. Building a law firm from the ground up was an exciting and daunting undertaking, but they followed a simple philosophy that remains at the core of our firm today: do the right thing.
In 1986, while attorneys at other firms internally competed with one another to chase clients, origination credits and increased rates, Tressler attorneys focused on teamwork. Doing the right thing meant reimagining how an efficient, client-focused firm should run. Attorneys were free to collaborate and share in the success of their clients, highlighting the power of bringing together some of the sharpest legal minds in the industry. Clients benefitted from fast response times, a personalized approach to their matters and great results, so the small firm quickly began to grow.
Starting with 18 lawyers, the firm doubled in size in six years causing us to move from our initial office space to Chicago’s famous Willis Tower. We doubled in size again over the next ten years and opened offices on the east and west coasts to service our growing national clientele. In 2009, the firm adopted its current name, Tressler LLP. Today, Tressler has eight offices located in five states - California, Illinois, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. We are home to 81 experienced attorneys and 42 excellent staff members who make up the “Tressler Family.” We have expanded to offer a full suite of legal services with award-winning practice groups in areas such as Local Government, Employment, Transportation, Professional/Management Liability, HOA/Condo, General Litigation and Insurance Coverage.
Our firm remains true to our original guiding principle of doing the right thing to best serve our clients, our people, our communities and our profession. As we reflect on this momentous anniversary, we are grateful to everyone who has been part of our journey.
Serving Our Clients
“We are extremely proud of our firm’s storied heritage as a national law firm with roots in the Chicago legal market. While we remain focused on being at the cutting edge in terms of technology, market adaptability, diversity and globalization of our services, our basic client service model of responsiveness and efficiency has not changed in 35 years,” said Mark Banovetz, partner and member of Tressler’s Executive Committee. “We have remained true to this service model throughout our journey, and we are thankful for our many valuable clients who have partnered with us along the way.”
Like our clients, we have had to navigate an ever-changing business landscape and modernize our services over the past 35 years. Our firm’s management team continues to embrace fresh ideas, enabling us to adapt and grow where other law firms could not. Tressler attorneys are known for building strong professional relationships with their clients and we recognize that we could not have achieved this milestone without our dedicated clients and colleagues.
“I am proud that the enterprise that bears my name has reached maturity well beyond my years of service,” said Jay Tressler, a celebrated founding partner of the firm. “Keep it going!”
Serving Our Communities
“Tressler is committed to diversity, inclusion and serving our communities,” said Bicvan Brown, Chair of Tressler’s Employment Practice Group and Diversity & Inclusion Committee. “We believe that having employees of varied ethnicity, race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, age, socioeconomic level and abilities makes our firm stronger, both at the individual level and as a community. As a result, a fundamental priority of Tressler is to recruit, retain and promote attorneys, professionals and staff members of diverse backgrounds. I am proud to celebrate Tressler’s 35th anniversary and the tremendous strides we have taken as a firm.” A diverse and inclusive workforce is not only the right thing to do, but it is also absolutely essential to our continued ability to provide the highest quality of legal services to our clients.
We also understand that our communities are entitled to expect more from us than our mere presence, and all Tressler attorneys and staff participate in our philanthropic endeavors. Tressler has supported hundreds of local and national charities over the last 35 years. Through individual and firm leadership, our team volunteers time and provides monetary support to national charitable organizations, local shelters and food pantries. Through pro bono legal work, mentoring, educational programs, fundraising, volunteering and more, serving our communities will always be a fundamental part of Tressler.
Serving Our Profession
We understand that our profession demands commitment, integrity and adherence to the highest professional and moral standards. Tressler has served the legal profession through leadership in national and local defense bar associations and is proud to be home to three past presidents of the Defense Research Institute (DRI), the International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC) and the Association of Defense Trial Attorneys (ADTA). Tressler was honored to have four partners serve as past presidents of the Illinois Defense Counsel (IDC) - more than any other firm in Illinois. We proudly host complimentary, educational seminars, known as Tressler Talks, and our attorneys provide updates and legal insights on our seven popular blogs. Tressler attorneys consistently provide pro bono services to underserved members of our communities through the Federal Trial Bar, legal clinic volunteerism, law school legal clinics, local bar pro bono activities and leadership in the Chicago Bar Association’s annual Campaign for Justice. We look forward to building on our contributions to the legal profession in the years to come.
“Tressler began with a vision of the delivery of legal services by a group of professionals dedicated to their clients, their employees and their communities in equal measure – an idea quite out of sync with the legal profession at that time,” said Daniel Formeller, founding partner and Chairman at Tressler LLP. “That vision continues to be reality through the efforts of an extremely committed group of professionals and staff who, despite challenges, continue to serve our clients, our communities and the profession with the same culture, focus and fervor embraced at the very beginning of our firm.”
Celebrating 35 Years
We look forward to celebrating this milestone throughout the year. We will be recognizing our many accomplished alumni as well as remembering those we have lost along the way. Although we wish we could gather in person, we have remained connected throughout this pandemic and look forward to commemorating this anniversary virtually. Thank you to everyone who has trusted in Tressler for the last 35 years.