Email: TAMcCain@NLGAttorneys.com
Attorney Trent A. McCain, 36, is a native of Gary, Indiana. In 1995, he graduated cum laude from Florida A&M University in Tallahassee where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. While in college, like most of America, McCain was captivated by the O.J. Simpson Trial and the unparalleled advocacy of the late Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr. Little did he know then that their paths would cross years later. After college, McCain went to work for Eastman Kodak Company as an Account Executive. In 1998, he returned to Northwest Indiana to work for the local utility company as an Industrial and Commercial Sales Representative.
In 1999, McCain started law school at Valparaiso University School of Law. During his time at “Valpo,” McCain was awarded the Charles R. Gromley Memorial Scholarship for service to the university for two consecutive years. In his second year, he was elected President of the Black Law Students Association and in his last year, he served on the Executive Board of the Midwest BLSA.
In March 2000, Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr. announced his partnership with legal powerhouse, James D. Montgomery of Chicago. This announcement captured McCain’s attention and he began his quest to work for the man he so admired five years earlier. After one solid year of persistent telephone calls and letter writing, Cochran’s Chicago partner hired McCain as a law clerk in the Summer 2001. After a stellar summer, The Cochran Firm offered McCain a permanent position when he graduated the following year. During his four years at The Cochran Firm, McCain was involved in several multi-million-dollar verdicts and settlements. His most notable case was Champion v. Outlook Nashville, Inc., 380 F.3d 893 (6th Cir. 2004) where McCain successfully briefed and argued the case before the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. McCain’s $900,000 verdict was upheld and he made good law for victims of police brutality in the process.
Six months after the passing of his legal mentor, McCain left the Cochran Firm to establish his own practice. Now, McCain practices in both Northwest Indiana and Chicago and is the principal of McCain Law Offices. McCain’s firm concentrates on permanent and catastrophic personal injury, wrongful death, medical negligence, police misconduct, and civil rights cases. Besides several dozen personal injury cases, McCain is currently involved in litigation against a Louisiana hotel for discriminating against 150 African American students and parents in violation of Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He also represents several inmates who were severely beaten by Lake County, Indiana correctional officers in October 2006. McCain is a founding member of the National Law Group, LLC and serves as the organization’s secretary.
McCain is the Immediate Past President of the James C. Kimbrough Bar Association. He serves on the Board of Governors of the Young Lawyers Division of the National Bar Association. McCain is also a member of the Indiana State, Illinois State, and Chicago Bar Associations the Illinois and Indiana Trial Lawyers Associations and the Chicago Inn of Court. McCain is married to Akilia McCain, an opera singer and speech language pathologist. They reside in the Miller Beach section of Gary, Indiana.
