Thomas M. Keating is a partner in the Chicago based law firm of Hodes Keating & Pilon concentrating in customs & international trade law as well as other laws regulating international trade in goods. Mr. Keating received his law degree from De Paul University in 1983. He is admitted to the Illinois bar and the bar of the U.S. Court of International Trade (1983). His practice has been devoted primarily to customs and international trade law.

He is a past president of the International Trade Club of Chicago (1994-1995), and currently serves as ITCC Secretary and Treasurer. He has also served as chair of the ITCC’s Import Committee and as a member of the Board of Directors of the ITCC since 1988.

Tom Keating received his baccalaureate degree from Northwestern University where he was selected for membership in Alpha Sigma Lambda, an academic society, and his law degree from the De Paul University School of Law (American Jurisprudence Award in Constitutional Law). Prior to his admission to the bar Tom, served in management positions for nine years for a major Midwestern railroad in the areas: of accounting, purchasing, marketing, traffic and economic forecasting. He was admitted to practice before the Interstate Commerce Commission. Tom served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Joseph Schneider, the Presiding Judge of the County Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County (1981-83).

He is admitted to the Illinois bar and the bars of the U.S. Court of International Trade; the Northern District of Illinois and the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the Federal and Seventh Circuits (all 1983) and belongs to the American, Illinois and Customs and International Trade bar associations. His legal practice is concentrated in the areas of customs, international trade and other laws affecting the importation or exportation of merchandise. He served as the chairs of the Customs and U.S. International Trade Law Committee of the Chicago Bar Association (1988-1990) and the Illinois State Bar Association International and Immigration Law Section Council (1992-93), and served as the Chair of the Joint Illinois State Bar Association - Advocates Society Twinning Project with the National Bar Association of Poland (1989-92).

Tom is listed in the several editions of Strathmore’s Who’s Who and has been listed in Who's Who in American Law, as well as in Who's Who of Emerging Leaders in America. He has been listed as “AV” (very high to preeminent) in the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory continuously since 1989. He is listed as an Illinois “Super Lawyer” in the May 2005 issue of Chicago Magazine. Tom has lectured and written on various aspects of customs and international trade law for example: grey market, classification of merchandise for duty assessment purposes, customs valuation, country of origin determination and marking requirements, foreign assembly operations eligible for reduced duty treatment, foreign customs laws, U.S. China Trade Relations and Trade Remedies, as well as the U.S. - Canada and the North American Free Trade Agreements. Tom's practice has been devoted primarily to customs and international trade law and related issues since his admission to the bar in 1983.