Thomas L. Shriner, Jr. is a partner with Foley & Lardner LLP and a member of the Business Litigation & Dispute Resolution, Appellate, and Bankruptcy & Business Reorganizations Practices. He concentrates his practice in commercial and public law litigation and has an extensive appellate practice in both state and federal courts. He also has substantial experience in the bankruptcy courts and regularly speaks on creditor-debtor law subjects.
Mr. Shriner has litigated disputes over business acquisitions and shareholder disputes. He represents banks in lender liability and loan participation cases. He has litigated trade secrets and agreements not to compete; pension, insurance, and dealership disputes; real estate and water rights cases; and a variety of claims under the UCC (including sales, bank deposits, secured transactions, and letters of credit). Mr. Shriner’s public law experience includes defendants' and plaintiffs' cases under the major civil rights statutes, including defending large class actions, and several plaintiffs’ cases under the Fair Housing Act.
A member of the American Bar Association, Mr. Shriner is a past president of the Seventh Circuit Bar Association. He has been Peer Review Rated as AV® Preeminent™, the highest performance rating in Martindale-Hubbell's peer review rating system. Mr. Shriner has also been named Best Lawyers® 2011 and 2013 Milwaukee Bet-the-Company Litigator of the Year and 2012 Milwaukee Litigation – Banking & Finance Lawyer of the Year, and has been selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® (1993-2013). He has attained the top ranking in general commercial litigation from Chambers USA: America’s Leading Business Lawyers (2003-2012) and was also selected for inclusion in the 2005-2012 Wisconsin Super Lawyers® lists. Mr. Shriner was named as a 2010 Leader in the Law by the Wisconsin Law Journal. This program recognizes leading practitioners and judges throughout Wisconsin based on a variety of achievement criteria, including leadership and vision.
In 2009, Mr. Shriner received the Myron L. Gordon Lifetime Achievement Award from the Eastern District of Wisconsin Bar Association and the Walter J. Cummings Award from the Chicago Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, for his pro bono work in the Seventh Circuit. In 2011, Mr. Shriner received the John Paul Stevens Pro Bono and Public Service Award from the Seventh Circuit Bar Association.
Mr. Shriner is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, the American Bar Foundation, and the Wisconsin Law Foundation. He is a member of the board of trustees of Cardinal Stritch University and of the board of curators of the Wisconsin Historical Society. Mr. Shriner is an adjunct professor of law at Marquette University Law School, where he has co-taught advanced civil procedure, federal courts, and a Supreme Court seminar with Dean Joseph D. Kearney. Mr. Shriner is a member of the Wisconsin Judicial Council, a statutorily authorized body that seeks to advance law reform in areas that affect the courts and judicial process, and serves as chair of its Evidence and Civil Procedure committee.
Mr. Shriner is a graduate of Indiana University (J.D., magna cum laude, 1972; A.B., with distinction, 1969), where he was elected to the Order of the Coif and Phi Beta Kappa. In 1972-73, he served as law clerk to Judge John S. Hastings of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. He was admitted to the Wisconsin Bar in 1972 and also is admitted before the United States Supreme Court, the United States Courts of Appeals for the Seventh, Eighth, and Federal Circuits, the United States District Courts in Wisconsin and Colorado, and the United States Tax Court.