About Us

Principal Attorney, Tawfiq Ali

Tawfiq I. Ali is the principal attorney of Ali Law Practice LLC, a firm dedicated to helping restaurant owners solve legal problems so they make more money. He received a degree in philosophy from Harvard University and his Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School. He gained extensive training in legal advocacy at the famed Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, where he served for two years. Recently, he was appointed to the Illinois State Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Professional Conduct, which reviews the ethical rules that govern lawyers and provides advisory opinions to attorneys throughout Illinois.

After joining the Illinois bar, Tawfiq practiced at Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Grippo & Elden LLC, firms known nationally and internationally for their excellence in business lawsuits. During those years, he represented large companies in disputes involving breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, class actions, business torts, insurance, intellectual property, and other matters worth several millions (sometimes billions) of dollars. He has helped clients in matters pending in several trial and appellate courts, including in Illinois, New York, California, Texas, Florida, Michigan, Massachusetts, and Indiana.

Tawfiq founded Ali Law Practice to provide the same level of sophisticated legal representation to small and mid-size businesses, entrepreneurs, and professionals whose problems are no less difficult but just as important as those faced by the largest companies: “All my clients should expect sound analysis and effective strategies to address their difficult problems. That requires understanding both the ‘big picture’ and the details of the client’s situation from all important angles: to avoid misjudging risks, to prevent bad decisions, and to take advantage of hidden opportunities to provide security, value, and satisfaction.”

Only two generations ago, Tawfiq’s grandfathers were raised in the villages of present-day Bangladesh. Self made through their devotion to education, they both became prominent professors in the sciences. Yet they always remained true to the values of learning, integrity, and community, instilled from their humble beginnings.

Those same values were inherited by his parents, who immigrated to the United States to study and pursue the American dream for their future family. They attended graduate school in Mississippi, where his father received a Ph.D. in engineering and his mother received an M.B.A. Soon after Tawfiq was born, the family moved to Flint, Michigan, where he and his younger brother and sister graduated with honors from the same public high school, and where his parents continue to teach as college professors.

While some believe the legal profession is broken, Tawfiq believes that change is possible: “Many clients notice that businesses and other professions are changing rapidly, but lawyers are often too slow to adopt new technologies to efficiently and competently serve them. Even worse, their lawyers still rely on outdated styles of advocacy that do not account for the changing mindsets of judges and jurors. The firm refuses to settle for that. Clients should expect their lawyer to adapt as the world evolves and to apply the best resources and methods currently available, while still honoring the timeless principles that form the essence of the attorney-client relationship: loyalty, diligence, confidentiality, trust, and friendship.”