Andrew Stroth

Andrew M. Stroth, J.D. (born November 28, 1967) is a Chicago-based sports attorney and civil rights lawyer for victims of police abuse.

Early life and education

Stroth was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1967. He graduated from Lyons Township High School in LaGrange, Illinois in 1986. He earned a bachelor's degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in 1990^[1] and a law degree from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law^[2] in 1999. Stroth taught as an Adjunct Professor at Northwestern University School of Law in the Negotiations Program between 2002 and 2008^[3][4] and continues to guest lecture at the school throughout the year.

Sports business career

In 1995, Stroth founded Impact Talent Associates,^[5] a Chicago-based sports management and marketing firm representing athletes in their marketing deals where he still serves as president today. While running Impact Talent Associates full-time, Stroth began law school at Northwestern University School of Law in, earning his J.D. in 1999.

As President of Impact Talent Associates, Stroth serves as the business advisor and legal contact for athletes from teams such as the Washington Redskins, Chicago Bears,^[6][7] and Miami Heat.^[8] In this role he also serves as an agent for Chicago television news anchor Robin Robinson^[9] and meteorologist Cheryl Scott.^{[10][11][12][13]}

Stroth is most notable for negotiating endorsement deals for several sports figures, including Donovan McNabb, Dwyane Wade, Michael Vick, Lovie Smith, Brandon Marshall, and Martellus Bennett.^{[14][15][16][17][18][19]}

In July 2011, Stroth negotiated a multi-year endorsement deal with Nike for NFL player Michael Vick.^[20] Stroth also serves as an adviser to Fuse Science and assists the company with procuring professional athletes to endorse the brand.^[21][22][23] In November 2011, Stroth negotiated an endorsement deal between Fuse Science and professional golfer Tiger Woods.^[24]

Move to civil rights representation

In January 2015, Stroth launched Action Injury Law Group, a boutique civil rights law firm representing victims of police brutality^[25][26] while still serving as President at Impact Talent Associates and Of Counsel at Handler Thayer, LLP^[27]

Stroth's work in police misconduct cases began with his involvement in the case of Pierre Loury, a sixteen-year-old boy who was shot and killed by Chicago police on April 11, 2016.^[28][29][30] Stroth represents the youth's family in federal civil rights lawsuit, during which city attorneys offered to admit to a federal jury that a code of silence exists in the Police Department in exchange for absolving Mayor Rahm Emanuel from testifying at a separate trial involving two whistleblower cops.^[31]

Stroth provides representation for the families of a number of high-profile police brutality cases including those of Justus Howell (17) of Zion, IL,^[32][33] Charles Hollstein (38) of Zion, IL,^[34] and Martice Milliner (25) of Chicago, IL^[35] who were shot and killed by police, Rashon Gartley (22) of Chicago, IL^[36][37] who was beaten by police at a South Side hospital, Jose Nieves (38) who was shot and killed by police in Chicago in 2016.^{[38][39][40][41][42]}, Cordale Quinn Handy (29) an Illinois residence who was shot and killed by police in St. Paul Minnesota in March of 2017^{[43][44][45][46]}, and Jordan Brunson (15) who was pinned down and threatened in June of 2017 by an off-duty Lansing, IL police officer^{[47][48][49][50][51]}.

In 2016, Stroth founded the "Truth, Hope and Justice" initiative, a photo and video narrative sharing the stories of mothers and families across the country who have been impacted by police violence, in an effort to start a dialogue about the state of police brutality, a matter he called "the most important civil rights issue of this moment in time".^[52]

References