Professional Experience

Mr. Thies has litigated complex commercial disputes and defended class actions throughout the state of Illinois, and in federal courts across the country, including the First, Second, Seventh, and Tenth Circuits. He has represented clients in numerous trials and arbitrations, including serving as part of a trial team winning a $64 million judgment after a jury verdict in the Northern District of New York.

Prior to joining Webber & Thies, Mr. Thies was an associate at Sidley Austin LLP (2013-2018) and clerked for Chief Judge James F. Holderman of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (2011-2013) and for Judge Jerry Smith of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (2010-2011).

Education

• J.D., magna cum laude, Harvard Law School, 2010
• B.A., magna cum laude, Yale University, 2007
• Light Fellow, for study of Mandarin Chinese at Beijing Normal University, 2005

Bar Admissions

• Illinois, 2010
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit, 2011
• U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, 2011 (General Bar) & 2018 (Trial Bar)
• U.S. District Court, District of Colorado, 2014
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, 2015
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit, 2016
• U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit, 2016
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit, 2016
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit, 2017
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit, 2018
• U.S. District Court, Central District of Illinois, 2018
• U.S. District Court, Southern District of Illinois, 2019

Professional Activities

• Mr. Thies is the Vice Chair of the Council of the American Bar Association Section of Legal Education & Admissions to the Bar, the nationally recognized accrediting body for American law schools. He also currently serves as a member of the finance and governance committees of the Council, as Chair of the Standards Committee and as Co-Chair of the Strategic Review Committee.
• Mr. Thies is a member of the ISBA’s Federal Civil Practice Section Council (Chair, 2021-22) and the ISBA Standing Committee on Legal Education, Admission, & Competence (Chair, 2016-17). He has also served as Co-Chair (2020-21) and Chair (2021-22) of the ISBA Standing Committee on the Rural Practice Initiative.
• Mr. Thies served as the Reporter for the 2009-2010 ABA Presidential Commission on the Impact of the Economic Crisis on the Profession and Legal Needs, and as the Reporter for the 2012-2013 ISBA Special Committee on the Impact of Law School Debt on the Delivery of Legal Service. He has also represented Illinois as a delegate in the ABA Young Lawyers Division Assembly.
• Mr. Thies has served as an adjunct professor at the UIC John Marshall Law School, teaching intellectual property trial advocacy.

Civic and Philanthropic Involvement

• Mr. Thies is the Chair of the Champaign-Urbana Schools Foundation Board.
• He is a graduate of the 2019 Emerging Community Leaders Program through the United Way of Champaign County.
• He is a member of the Sixth Judicial Circuit Pro Bono Committee and volunteers as a pro bono attorney through the Sixth Judicial Circuit Self-Represented Litigant Help Desk.
• Mr. Thies serves as an Elder at the All Souls Presbyterian Church in Champaign-Urbana.

Personal

Mr. Thies and his wife Page reside in Champaign with their three sons and two daughters.