Thomas Hamilton’s insurance expertise is accompanied by 35 years of practice in the Chancery Courts of Illinois. This declaratory judgment experience is utilized in all phases of his insurance coverage practice, including resolution of commercial and professional liability claims, excess of limits liability issues, responding to claim management errors and expertise in excess-primary relationships. 

Mr. Hamilton’s extensive experience includes mediation and trial and appellate court representation of insurers in the interpretation and declaration of numerous insurance contract issues, including:

• Physician claims-made and errors and omissions coverages
• Lawyer claims-made and errors and omissions coverages
• CGL coverages and additional insured endorsements
• Policyholder class actions arising from premium charges and claim practices
• Resolution of insurer response to defense tenders
• Insurer exposure in excess of policyholder limits
• Loss allocation and proration between insurers
• Excess-primary insurer relationships
• Arbitration and mediation of construction defect and coverage controversies

Mr. Hamilton is co-chair of Hinshaw's national Insurance Services Specialty Group. He joined Hinshaw, Culbertson, Moelmann, Hoban & Fuller (now Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP) in June 1970 upon leaving a teaching position at Indiana University.

Mr. Hamilton has served on the faculty of the Insurance School of Chicago, and serves as the immediate Past Chair of the Board of Directors of the Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education.

Mr. Hamilton has also served as chair of the Casualty Insurance Section of the International Association of Defense Counsel and as Director of the Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel. He lectures often at the Defense Research Institute on topics of commercial insurance coverage and bad faith in excess of limits.

He has been recognized by his peers as a Leading Lawyer in the category of Insurance / Insurance Coverage / Reinsurance Law. In addition, Mr. Hamilton holds the AV® Peer Review Rating from Martindale-Hubbell, its highest rating for ethics and legal ability.

Since 2005, Mr. Hamilton has been named annually to the Super Lawyer list in the area of Insurance Coverage, by Illinois Super Lawyers magazine.

In the Fall of 2005, Mr. Hamilton completed intensive training in mediation from the faculty of Pepperdine University School of Law’s top-ranked Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, and is a Certified Mediator in the Cook County Court-Annexed Major Case Civil Mediation Program.

Mr. Hamilton is a member of the American Bar Association, Illinois Bar Association and Indiana Bar Association. Mr. Hamilton is the general editor of the treatise, Commercial and Professional Liability Insurance, published by the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education (IICLE) in 2002, and its supplement in 2005. He is co-author of one of its chapters, “Extra-Contractual Damages.” Mr. Hamilton’s other publications include:

• "Attorney Liability Insurance," Attorneys Legal Liability, Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education (IICLE), 2002, 2005 supplement and 2007.
• "Excess Primary Insurer Obligations and the Rights of the Insured," Defense Counsel Journal, Vol 69. No. 3, July 2002.
• “Problems Arising From Additional Insureds’ Endorsements,” Defense Counsel Journal, Volume 63, No. 3, July 1995.

Mr. Hamilton has lectured on numerous topics related to insurance.  His presentations include:

• “The ‘No Prejudice’ Standard Fades into the Sunset: Prodigy Communications Corp. v. Agricultural Excess & Surplus Insurance Company and New York Marine & General Ins. Co. v. Lafarge North America,” Hinshaw’s 2009 Insurance Services Symposium, Chicago, Illinois, October 2009.
• “Legal E&O Coverage and the Potential Exposure from the Subprime Market Meltdown,” Chicago Bar Association, Insurance Law Committee meeting, Chicago, Illinois, March 2008.
• “Underwriting the Risk of Catastrophic Loss,” Hinshaw’s 2007 Insurance Services Symposium, Chicago, Illinois, May 2007.
• “Insurance Law – the Recent, Significant Decisions,” Hinshaw’s annual Legal Malpractice & Risk Management conference, Chicago, Illinois, March 2007.
• “The Very Latest in Construction Claims,” Defense Research Institute’s “Insurance Coverage and Claims Institute,” Chicago, Illinois, May 2006.
• “Coverage Counsel’s Report – Claim Handling Liability,” Hinshaw Breakfast Briefing, Schaumburg, Illinois, March 2006.
• “Welcoming Remarks,” Hinshaw’s “2006 Insurance Services Symposium: Creative Management of Claims and Coverage Disputes in a High-Risk Environment,” in Chicago, Illinois, February 2006.
• "Expected or Intended Conduct: Is it an Occurrence?," Defense Research Institute, Chicago, Illinois, April 2004.
• "Refusal to Defend – Refusal to Settle – Issues and Consequences," Defense Research Institute, Chicago, Illinois, March 2001.
• “The Duty to Defend and Reservation of Rights Letters,” Property Loss Research Bureau, The 1999 Claims Conference, New Orleans, Louisiana, March 1999.
• “Conflict of Interest: Definitions and Illinois Law,” Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel, January 1997.
• “Declaratory Judgment Actions,” Illinois State Medical Inter-Insurance Exchange, January 1995.
• “The CGL Policy - An Analysis and Comparison of New Claims Made and Old Occurrence Policies,” American Bar Association National Institute, Las Vegas, Nevada, March 1987.

Tom Hamilton serves as Chancellor for his local Episcopal Parish, the Church of the Holy Comforter, and is active in several parish activities, including vocational counseling and placement. He lives in Wilmette, Illinois, with his wife, Judy, who retired from Aetna Property & Casualty Company as an SIU Regional Director. Son, Ted, works in Gurnee as a Special Education Teacher where he and his wife Melissa raise three grandchildren.