Jim Thompson

AGE: 75
OCCUPATION: Senior chairman, Winston & Strawn

Illinois’s longest-serving governor may not hold the sway he once did. But he is still Big Jim Thompson, with an iconic Loop building that bears his name, and he wields clout at what is arguably the most influential law firm in the city.

MORE ON THOMPSON: On Rod Blagojevich's Sentencing Day, Some Comparisons to Jim Thompson | When Michael Madigan and Big Jim Thompson Stopped Time to Save the White Sox

RELATED: Most Powerful Ex-Chicagoans | Power Couples | Power Siblings | Up-and-Comers | Poll: Which Powerful Chicagoan Would You Call Back First? | Quiz: Do You Know Chicago’s Power Players? | Back to all 100

 

Photograph: Heather Stone/Chicago Tribune