tdonner@donnerco.com

(630) 917-6800

Ted received his bachelors degree from Roosevelt University in Chicago and is a 1990 graduate of Loyola University Chicago School of Law where he served as editor-in-chief of the law school's newspaper, Blackacre , and as a member of the editorial board of Loyola's  Consumer Law Reporter. He was awarded Best Oralist in the school’s intra-school moot court competition, received a fellowship for work with the American Judicature Society and received American Jurisprudence Awards in Professional Responsibility and Criminal Procedure, among other honors. He has remained active with the law school ever since, as an Adjunct Professor teaching classes for over 30 years. He has served as a team coach for a number of Loyola's moot court teams including the ABA Negotiation Competition Team and the Chicago Bar Association Moot Court Team. In 1999, Loyola's Moot Court Honors Board named him as the guest of honor for their annual dinner, recognizing him for his years of outstanding dedication and support to the law school.

Ted is currently serving as a member of the Board of Directors for the Illinois Bar Foundation and as a member of the Public Interest Law Initiative's 18th Judicial Circuit Committee. He is also a member of the American Bar Foundation, the Illinois State Bar Association, the DuPage County and Will County Bar Associations, and the Alpha Sigma Nu National Jesuit Honor Society. 

He was elected and served as President of the DuPage County Bar Association ("DCBA") in 2016-17. He was a member of the Executive Committee and Board of Directors for DCBA from 2013-18 and served as a member of the Board of Directors for the DuPage Bar Foundation ("DBF") for five years (2011-15, 2017-18). For DCBA, he chaired the Lawyer Referral Service Committee in 2013-14, Planning Committee in 2014-15, Budget Committee in 2015-16 and Judiciary Committee in 2017-19. Prior to his election to the Executive Committee in 2013, he served for many years as a member of the Editorial Board, serving as Editor-in-Chief of the DCBA Brief in 2007-08 and again in 2010-11. He was awarded a DCBA Directors' Award in 2008 and, in May 2011, was named the DCBA's Lawyer of the Year.

In addition to a number of law review and bar journal articles, Ted is the author of two national treatises for Thomson Reuters (West), the Attorneys Practice Guide to Negotiations, and Jury Selection: Strategy & Science (with Richard Gabriel). 

Ted has presented seminars for an array of legal and professional organizations on such topics as jury selection, implicit bias, insurance coverage, and legal negotiations, including the Illinois Attorney Generals' Office, Illinois Workers Compensation Commission, Illinois Paralegal Association, American Society of Trial Consultants, National Business Institute, Lohrman, the National Restaurant Association, and the DuPage County Bar Association.

Ted has been an Adjunct Professor with Loyola University Chicago School of Law since shortly after he graduated from the law school in 1990. Initially assisting the Honorable John W. ("Jack") Cooley with classes in Litigation Thinking Skills and Appellate Advocacy, he also coached the school's student teams for many years in the Chicago Bar Association Moot Court Competition and the American Bar Association Negotiation Competition. He has since taught classes in Pre-Trial Litigation, Class Action Antitrust Litigation, Advanced Trial Practice, Negotiation, Client Counseling and the Law of Jury Selection. 

The Public Interest Law Initiative's 18th Judicial Circuit Committee recognized Ted with its Pro Bono/Public Service Award for 2021. He is a subject of biographical record in Marquis' Who’s Who in America, Marquis' Who’s Who in the World, and Marquis' Who’s Who in the Law. In 2018, Marquis also honored him with Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award.  He has an A.V. Rating from Martindale-Hubbell (2005-24), has been named as an "Illinois Super Lawyer" for 17 years (through 2024), and has a "10/10" rating ("Superb") with Avvo.

In addition to his work in the legal community, Ted serves as a member of the DuPage County Ethics Commission and as Vice President of the Board of Directors for the Buffalo Theatre Ensemble in Glen Ellyn.