Swanson, Martin & Bell, LLP partner Michael W. Drumke has been elected to the American Bar Association (ABA) Board of Governors for a three-year term.
Drumke’s practice focuses on trials involving complex business litigation matters, including toxic tort, product liability, pharmaceutical, class action, and commercial litigation. He serves as national trial counsel in mass tort litigation across the country and has served as national coordinating counsel for manufacturers in asbestos-related litigation and lead counsel for several premises owners named in toxic tort litigation in the Midwest. He has represented clients in Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Missouri, Michigan, Texas, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Alabama, Washington, Oregon, California, Mississippi, Massachusetts, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, Delaware, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The ABA’s Board of Governors has the authority to act and speak for the ABA, consistent with previous action of the House of Delegates, when the House is not in session. The Board oversees the general operation of the ABA and develops specific plans of action. The Board is currently comprised of 43 members including 19 district representatives, 18 members-at-large, and the following six officers who serve as ex officio: President, President-Elect, Chair of the House, Secretary, Treasurer and Immediate Past President.
“The ABA exists to serve its members and the profession as a whole and is a critical institution in promoting and protecting the rule of law. I am privileged to be nominated to serve as a member of the ABA Board of Governors which oversees the operations of the ABA,” Drumke said.
Drumke has held numerous leadership positions in in the ABA including service as Chair of the Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section and Chair of the ABA Section Officers Conference, as well as serving as a member of the ABA 2015 Magna Carta Anniversary Committee and as a prior member of the ABA Standing Committee on Silver Gavel Awards.
Drumke earned his J.D. in 1991 from the University of Wisconsin Law School and his B.A cum laude in 1988 from Tufts University. Drumke is admitted to practice in Illinois, Wisconsin, Texas, Missouri and Pennsylvania. He also is admitted to the bars of numerous U.S. District Courts as well as the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Third, Fourth, and Seventh Circuits and the U.S. Supreme Court.
Drumke has authored various articles and spoken at over a dozen programs on subjects such as toxic torts, class actions, punitive damages, declaratory relief, asbestos medicine, civil conspiracy claims, §524(g) bankruptcy trusts, and procedural issues in multi-district litigation. He has served as chair for a number of programs on class actions and mass torts.
Drumke has also received many awards. He has been selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America in the field of Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Defendants. He has been named one of the Top 10 Leading Class Action/Mass Tort Defense Lawyers in Illinois by the Leading Lawyers Network and is a member of the Leading Lawyers Network for class action/mass tort defense law, product liability defense law, and toxic torts defense law. For more than 10 years, he has been named an “Illinois Super Lawyer” in the field of class action/mass tort and he is A/V Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell. He received the “Bill of Rights in Action Award,” from the Chicago Constitutional Rights Foundation in 2008 and the "Innovative Excellence in National CLE Programming Award," from the ABA Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section in 2004. In 2005, he was named to the Law and Public Service Honor Roll of the ABA Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section. In 2001, he was recognized as one of “40 Illinois Attorneys Under 40 to Watch,” by Law Bulletin Publishing Company.
Drumke is a Life Fellow of both the American Bar Foundation and the Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section. He is a member of the International Association of Defense Counsel, Illinois State Bar Association, State Bar of Texas, State Bar of Wisconsin, the Defense Research Institute, the Trial Attorneys of America, and Society of Trial Lawyers.