T.J. Dammrich

T.J. has advised businesses and earned his clients’ trust for over twenty years. He founded Mercer Oak to leverage his legal skills to better serve business. His vision for advocacy is transparent, authentic, and proactive. Clients look to T.J. to serve as outside general counsel and to handle complex transactions, financings, and litigation.

Since founding Mercer Oak, T.J. has become outside general counsel and a trusted advisor for emerging VC-backed companies, PE portfolio companies, and family businesses. He has helped clients purchase and finance businesses, win government contracts, and improve corporate governance. For family offices and high-net-worth individuals, T.J. regularly reviews alternative investment fund offering materials to advise clients on potential investments and negotiate better terms and side letters.

Before Mercer Oak, T.J. worked on the frontlines of complex commercial litigation in the United States. Having worked in virtual firms set up by clients facing tens of thousands of product liability suits in multidistrict litigation, T.J. knows how to litigate under pressure and collaborate with attorneys from different firms. His litigation experience covers breach of contract, fraud, insurance coverage, indemnification, product liability, intellectual property, and class action cases. He continues to lead clients through state and federal court proceedings and commercial arbitration across the country.

Clients include PE, VC, and consulting firms; family offices and high-net-worth individuals; and companies spanning numerous industries (technology, logistics, pharmaceutical, agriculture, real estate, construction, engineering, manufacturing, financial services, and food and beverage). The job requires developing expertise regarding each new client, their business, and their challenges.

Prior to Northwestern Law, T.J. lobbied in Washington, DC for trade groups. He learned financial analyses and deal-making as an investment banking summer analyst in London. Then he worked at Accenture in the Strategy Group based out of New York City. Consulting served as business school for T.J. Key projects included building business plans for client growth opportunities, shareholder value analyses for consulting and outsourcing projects, and managing the development and implementation of business transformation programs within the underwriting and claims divisions of a major insurer. T.J. uses quantitative skills and analytical tools to help clients solve problems and pursue growth. He easily bonds with C-suite executives and frontline employees.

T.J. is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago and has fostered meaningful connections among Chicago’s leaders. For 20 years, he has served on the Board of Directors of Urban Initiatives, a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to empowering underserved children through structured play and mentoring programs focused on academics, health, social-emotional learning, and leadership development. Since 2016, he has served by appointment of the Governor and Director of Insurance of Illinois on the Governing Committee of the Illinois FAIR Plan Association, a statutorily created property insurance provider for those unable to secure insurance in the standard marketplace. He also sits on the Princeton University Rugby Endowment Board.

T.J. lives in the West Loop neighborhood of Chicago with his wife, Carolyn, and three children. He enjoys golf, platform tennis, skiing, and coaching his boys' sports teams.   

Credentials:

Princeton University, AB 2001, School of Public and International Affairs, Cum Laude

Northwestern University School of Law, JD 2007

Awards:

Illinois Super Lawyers (2023-2024)

Leading Lawyer, Closely & Privately Held Business Law; Commercial Litigation, Law Bulletin Publishing Company, given to fewer than 5 percent of all Illinois lawyers (2021 2022)

Emerging Lawyer, Law Bulletin Publishing Company, 2015-2019