Four-Decade Resident Opens New Downtown Law Office

Terry Budny is well-used to the Metra commute from Western Springs to a Chicago law office—he’s been doing it for 37 years. This month, for the first time in all those years, it’ll be to a different firm.

Budny is among the six attorneys opening the new Sheppard Mullin office in Chicago this month, the global law firm’s 15th office and its debut in the Windy City. Five of those lawyers, including Budny, moved from K&L Gates (who merged with Budny’s original firm, Bell, Boyd & Lloyd, in 2009)—meaning, in short, a lot of the gang is staying together.

“They’re a great group of associates,” Budny said. “It’s just a great opportunity to keep them with us and keep the group together and make the transition as seamless as possible.”

Budny’s law focus is real estate financing, investment and development—specifically, representing lenders for projects secured by real estate. He said he fell into a real-estate specialty more or less by happenstance when joining Bell, Boyd & Lloyd in 1976 after graduating from the University of Chicago’s law school.

That was the same year he and his wife moved to Western Springs. “[We] were looking for places that were adjacent to a commuter railroad line that was a nice community, and Western Springs was one we were attracted to at that time,” Budny said. “And it [became] a place we loved and stayed for that long.”

The Chicago office of Sheppard Mullin opened the second week of July. Bundy said the current focus for the office is on informing his clients of the move to give them the option of whether or not to follow him or stay with K&L Gates.

“It’s kind of an exciting new adventure at least for me, for a guy who’s been around for a while,” said Budny.

Sheppard Mullin (Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP) has about 600 attorneys in 15 offices across the globe. According to a Sheppard Mullin press release, the company has represented more than half of the companies listed on the Fortune 100.