Top Quinn Emanuel Partner Starts Over as Traffic Court Judge

Stephen Swedlow climbed to the top of a major law firm by landing some of the country’s biggest cases, making millions along the way.

Then, he traded his lucrative partnership for traffic court.

Swedlow, 52, last year left Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan after winning a seat as a judge in Illinois’ Cook County. The longtime Chicagoan has been presiding over DUI trials and traffic violations in the city’s downtown Loop for most of the past six months.

Partners at Big Law firms like Quinn Emanuel typically stay in the role until they retire for good, collecting ...