In 1996, Trent began his career as a personal injury attorney practicing aviation law, concentrating on airline and helicopter disasters. Since then, Trent has become a nationally recognized leader and experienced litigator in high-profile cases, handling everything from pharmaceutical and medical device cases to class action matters and clergy abuse claims.

With over 25 years of experience handling a broad array of mass tort cases, Trent has helped thousands of people harmed by the negligence of pharmaceutical giants Johnson & Johnson, AbbVie, Bayer and Merck. Over his career, Trent and his team have secured over $2 billion in settlements for clients injured by dangerous drugs and defective medical devices, including notable pharmaceutical settlements involving Bextra, Ephedra, Ortho Evra and Vioxx.

Trent’s leadership, expertise and professionalism have led federal judges to appoint him to serve on plaintffs’ steering committees for several multidistrict litigations (MDLs) involving Yaz, DePuy hip replacements and Propecia. Most notably, he was appointed as plaintiffs’ co-lead counsel in MDLs involving Tepezza, Suboxone and testosterone replacement therapy products.

Trent regularly speaks at national legal conferences. He is the founding chair of the American Association for Justice’s (AAJ) Asbestos Litigation Group, former co-chair of AAJ’s Testosterone Therapy Litigation Group and chair of the annual Litigation Series Mass Torts Forum. In addition, Trent has been recognized as one of The Best Lawyers in America® for Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions–Plaintiffs (2024); Product Liability Litigation–Plaintiffs (2022-2024); and Personal Injury Litigation–Plaintiffs (2024), as well as recognized by the Illinois Super Lawyers® list (2021-2023).