Thomas H. Ryerson
Partner
Thomas H. Ryerson is the managing partner of Clausen Miller’s Wheaton, Illinois office. Mr. Ryerson has practiced law since 1976. He has successfully tried and litigated, in state and federal courts, a wide variety of cases, including medical malpractice, professional liability, design professional liability, products liability, construction, commercial litigation, insurance coverage, municipal liability, employment practices liability and civil rights. In addition to extensive jury trial experience, he has substantial experience in alternative dispute resolution, mediation and arbitration. His clients range from physician groups, design professionals and closely held corporations to large financial services corporations, real estate developers, insurers and technology startups.
Mr. Ryerson has held numerous positions with the DuPage County, Illinois Bar Association including: Associate General Counsel, Chairman of the Civil Law Committee, a member of its Judiciary Committee and County Court Rules Committee. He is a member of The Society of Trial Lawyers and a certified chair arbitrator for the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit. He has been active in numerous bar and industry groups, including the Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education, the Defense Research Institute, the Tort Law Section Council of the Illinois State Bar Association, the Litigation Section of the ABA, and the Kane County Bar Association. He was counsel and secretary to the Chicago Casualty Adjusters Association.
Mr. Ryerson was a member of the Adjunct Faculty at Loyola Law School, where he taught appellate advocacy. He has published numerous papers and articles on trial-related matters. He founded and taught Clausen Miller’s in-house trial advocacy program for associate attorneys. He is a trial practice instructor for the DuPage County Bar Association and the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit. He is a member of the Trial Bar for the Federal District Court for Northern Illinois. He was a member of the Glen Ellyn Zoning Board and Commission, President of the Board of Trustees of the Glen Ellyn Public Library and a member of the Glen Ellyn Plan Commission.
Mr. Ryerson graduated from Loyola Law School where he was a Law Journal Associate Editor and a member of its award-winning National Moot Court Team.
Mr. Ryerson has an "AV" rating with Martindale-Hubbell indicating the highest ranking in legal ability and ethical standards as determined by his peers in the legal community and he has been named one of the Leading Lawyers of Illinois by the Law Bulletin Publishing Company.
Mr. Ryerson’s trial experience includes handling to resolution over one hundred medical malpractice cases. Of his over thirty trials concluded by a jury verdict, 21 have been medical practice cases. Seventeen of the nineteen medical malpractice cases resulted in a not-guilty verdict for Mr. Ryerson’s client. The only plaintiff’s verdict was below the plaintiff’s demand, below the judge’s recommendation, and far below the median area values for similar cases.
Significant medical malpractice cases include: Lintern v. Ubatuba, a double-amputation, heparin-complication case tried to a not-guilty verdict; Pedersen v. Elmhurst Memorial Hospital, a paraplegia/stroke case tried to a not-guilty verdict for a surgeon; Neuman v. Burstein, an Illinois Supreme Court case establishing precedent under 5/2-622; Arbeen v. Pieters, an osteocarcinoma/amputation case that was profiled in the American Journal of Radiology as an example of how to successfully defend a radiologist; and Gaines v. Ramsey and Brantley v. Ramsey tried to a not guilty verdict for a doctor in cerebral palsy baby cases.
His alternative dispute resolution experience includes numerous medical malpractice mediations, eight to ten construction mediations, and twelve to fifteen civil arbitrations serving as Chair Arbitrator.
Mr. Ryerson has successfully represented physicians in peer review proceedings and in regulatory matters before Illinois state agencies.
Mr. Ryerson represents closely-held corporations in a wide variety of areas including: real estate development; zoning and planning; contract negotiation and drafting; employment contracts and litigation; creditor’s rights; and risk management.
Education
- J.D. Loyola University, Chicago School of Law, 1976
- B.A. Northwestern University, 1973
Bar Admissions
- Illinois
Court Admissions
- U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, 1976
- United States Supreme Court, 1980
Organization Affiliations
- Society of Trial Lawyers
- Member of Loyola Law School Faculty
- Glen Ellyn Zoning Commission
- Illinois State Bar Association
- American Bar Association
- DuPage County Bar Association
View this attorney's Reported Decisions, Verdicts and Judgments.
