About Constantine Trela
Constantine Trela Jr graduated from Northwestern University with a B.A. in 1973 and earned his J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law in 1976. He entered the legal profession at a time of change in American jurisprudence and quickly moved into federal clerkships that shaped his early career.
After law school he served as a law clerk to Judge Robert A. Sprecher on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in 1979. The next year he clerked for Justice John Paul Stevens at the Supreme Court of the United States. Those two years placed him close to high-stakes appellate work and exposed him to the inner workings of federal appellate and Supreme Court chambers.
He joined Sidley Austin and became a partner in 1985. Over the decades he has appeared in a range of federal courts and appellate courts. His admissions include the U.S. Supreme Court and multiple federal circuits, among them the Third, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Tenth and the Federal Circuit. He is also admitted in Illinois and to the trial bar of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois since 1991.
Trela’s practice blends appellate briefing and argument with federal court litigation. He is known within the legal community for steady appellate work and for handling complex federal matters that require careful record development and tight appellate strategy. His docket has reflected the variety of forums to which he is admitted.
He has maintained active membership in a number of bar organizations. Those include the American Bar Association, the Illinois Bar Association and the Chicago Bar Association. He also belongs to circuit-focused groups such as the Fifth Circuit Bar Association, the Federal Circuit Bar Association and the Seventh Circuit Bar Association. Within the local legal community he serves on the advisory board of the Chicago Volunteer Legal Services Foundation and holds membership in the Illinois Appellate Lawyers Association.
Colleagues and judges who have worked with him note his experience in appellate procedure and federal court practice. That background stems in part from early clerkships at the appellate and Supreme Court levels and from decades litigating in federal trial and appellate forums.
He continues to practice at Sidley Austin LLP. He focuses on appellate and federal litigation.
