Suffredin was born October 5, 1947 in Evergreen Park, Illinois, and grew up in Westchester, Illinois. He was the first of eight children born to Lawrence J. Suffredin Sr., a World War II combat veteran, and Patricia Mulrainey Suffredin. His father worked as a Chicago policeman and then became the "Printer to South Water Market" as the owner of Chicago Produce Publishing Company which reported on the local fruit and vegetable market. After studies at Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary, he received his bachelor's degree from Loyola University Chicago in 1969 and his law degree from Georgetown University in 1972.
Suffredin is an attorney; he has argued before the Illinois and United States Supreme Court as well as the United States Court of Appeals and the Illinois Appellate Court. He has tried 136 juries to verdicts. Suffredin is in private law practice from 1975 to present, while serving as a Cook County Commissioner. Suffredin is a partner in the law firm of Shefsky & Froelich with practices in the areas of lobbying, gaming, government regulation, and securities law. Suffredin served as lead counsel in filing successful gaming applications with the Illinois Gaming Board for riverboat gaming operations. Suffredin has represented the following public entities: Cook County Forest Preserve, Chicago Transit Authority, and the Cities of Chicago, Elgin and Evanston. Suffredin is a registered lobbyist with Cook County, the City of Chicago, and the State of Illinois. Suffredin's lobbyist clients include or have included resort and casino company MGM Mirage, owners of the Grand Victoria Casino in Elgin, Illinois, and Penn National Gaming, owners of the Hollywood Casino, Aurora, Illinois, the Illinois Alliance of Competitive Telephone Companies, the Donors Forum of Chicago, the Illinois Arts Alliance, and Illinois Citizens for Handgun Control, the Chicago Bar Association, and Kankakee Regional Landfill LLC. He is also a registered lobbyist for Abbott Laboratories, Nursepower Services Corporation, and Quest Diagnostics.
Cook County Commissioner
Suffredin serves part-time as a Commissioner on the Cook County Board. Suffredin is Chairperson of the Legislation and Intergovernmental Relations and Veterans Committee A committee of the whole, which recommends county positions on state and federal legislation, tracking state and federal funds earmarked for the county; reviews appointments to county boards and commissions, and reviews programs to benefit military veterans. He also serves on the Litigation, Tax and Revenue, Rules and Administration, and the Botanic Garden Committees. On February 29, 2008 Suffredin voted for, and on July 22, 2008 voted to uphold, a historic Cook County sales tax increase, remaining the highest sales tax rate in the nation. The Chicago Tribune editorialized that Suffredin "caved to pressure from public employee unions...and he provided the winning vote for this bureaucracy-friendly tax hike" and encouraged constituents to contact Suffredin to "acknowledge the error" by co-sponsoring its repeal. On October 11, 2017 Suffredin was one of two Commissioners voting to keep Cook County's tax on sweetened beverages. This final vote followed a 15-1 vote of the County Board's finance committee, where Suffredin was the only Commissioner voting to keep the tax.
Personal life
Suffredin and his wife, Gloria Callaci, live in Evanston, Illinois, and have two adult children, Tom and Elizabeth. Tom is the alderman of the 6th Ward of Evanston.
