TOUHY TOUHY & BUEHLER - Key Persons
Before entering private practice, Mr. Touhy was an assistant attorney general for the Illinois Attorney General's Office, specializing in federal trial practice. After six years at the attorney general's office, he became trial counsel for the firm Roderick J. Bergin and Associates, defending complex litigation cases involving catastrophic injuries sustained by plaintiffs, mostly in construction and product liability settings. In 1991, he formed Touhy & Touhy Ltd. with his brother, Timothy J. Touhy, and since then has focused his practice on plaintiff's catastrophic personal injury litigation, medical malpractice, products liability, civil rights and most recently, class action litigation in the trial and appellate courts. Mr. Touhy has obtained record-setting jury verdicts in both state and federal trial courts on behalf of plaintiffs in these kinds of cases. In 2007, he and his brother joined Terrence Buehler to form Touhy, Touhy, & Buehler, LLP.
Mr. Touhy was lead counsel for the class of Illinois citizens that brought suit against NICOR in 2002 for mercury contamination of homes in northern Illinois, and also served as lead counsel in Perez v. RadioShack, a collective action brought against RadioShack for FLSA violations in failing to pay overtime to its managers. The RadioShack case generated a federal district court ruling creating the "80-80" rule, a guideline widely followed by district courts across the country protecting the rights of managers to overtime compensation.
Since then, Mr. Touhy has served as lead counsel in a series of class and collective claims seeking overtime compensation from employers on behalf of employees, including Champion Mortgage, Wilmington Finance, U.S Bank, the Lake County Sheriff's Department, Ameristar Casinos, and others.
Mr. Williams has litigated class actions in state and federal courts throughout the country, both from the plaintiff and defendant side, throughout his entire legal career. He has argued appeals in the Illinois Appellate Court and the Third and Seventh Circuit Courts of Appeals.
From 1982 until 1990, Mr. Williams litigated antitrust and securities class actions for the firms of Freeman, Atkins & Coleman, Ltd. and Robert S. Atkins & Associates. Between the years 1990 and 2002, Mr. Williams litigated antitrust, securities, consumer and ERISA class action for the firms of Susman, Saunders & Buehler, Susman, Buehler & Watkins and Susman & Watkins. Between 2002 and 2007, Mr. Williams litigated several ERISA and consumer class actions for the firms of Buehler, Reed & Williams and Buehler & Williams. Since July 2007, he has continued to litigate securities, consumer and employment class action cases at Touhy, Touhy, Buehler & Williams, LLP.
Terrence Buehler graduated cum laude from Carleton College in 1977 with a Bachelor of Arts, and graduated cum laude from Loyola University Chicago School of Law in 1981 with a Juris Doctor. Mr. Buehler was also a member of the Loyola Law Journal. Mr. Buehler is admitted to practice in the State of Illinois, the Northern District of Illinois (where he is also a member of the Trial Bar), and the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. His practice has been devoted almost entirely to large, complex litigation in a variety of areas, including shareholders' rights, stockholder litigation, employment law and ERISA.
Mr. Buehler started his legal career with a large, nationally prominent firm but left after several years to work for people: stockholders, working people, tax payers and consumers.
In January 1987, Mr. Buehler co-founded the firm of Susman Saunders & Buehler. While with that firm and in the years following, Mr. Buehler's practice has focused almost exclusively on complex corporate, securities, employment and ERISA class action litigation.
On January 1, 1998, Mr. Buehler left Susman Saunders & Buehler and founded the firm that later merged with Touhy & Touhy and became Touhy, Touhy, & Buehler. He and the firm have continued to practice in the area of complex commercial, employment and class action litigation, on behalf of working people and individuals.
Mr. Touhy has tried over 70 cases to jury verdict in state and federal trial courts. During the past 25 years he has focused his practice on plaintiff's catastrophic personal injury litigation, including wrongful death, products liability and civil rights. He has obtained a number of record-setting jury verdicts on behalf of plaintiffs in these cases. He has also distinguished himself in the state and federal appellate courts, appearing as lead counsel in the Illinois Appellate Court, Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court over the past 30 years.
In 1994 he was invited by renowned trial lawyer, Gerry Spence, to participate in the founding of the nationally acclaimed Trial Lawyers College which established a revolutionary method for training trial lawyers. He has been a member of the Trial Lawyers College since its inception. He has been selected one of Illinois' "Super Lawyers".
Professional Experience
Before his career as a trial lawyer, Mr. Touhy served as majority legal counsel to the Illinois Senate Judiciary Committee. He was appointed parliamentarian and legal counsel to the Illinois Senate by the Senate President. Mr. Touhy served as an assistant attorney general, representing state agencies in trial courts across the state. He appeared as chief trial counsel on behalf of state officials in the federal and state courts in dozens of cases. He also served as a special assistant attorney general and state's attorney appellate prosecutor.