Before joining the firm, Douglas L. Toering practiced as in-house counsel for General Motors Corporation, later as a partner at a national litigation firm, and then as a principal at his own firm. His practice includes commercial litigation, shareholder disputes, business transactional matters, and business mediation. Over a 38-year career, Mr. Toering has represented Fortune 500 companies in commercial litigation, as well as small businesses and business owners in litigation and transactional matters.

Mr. Toering is past chair of the State Bar of Michigan’s Business Law Section, for which he currently chairs the Business Courts Committee and the Commercial Litigation Committee. On September 28, 2021, Mr. Toering officially received the Stephen H. Schulman Outstanding Business Lawyer Award from the SBM’s Business Law Section.  This annual award honors a Michigan business lawyer who consistently exemplifies the characteristics the Business Law Section seeks to foster and facilitate: the highest quality of professionalism, the highest quality of practice, and an unwavering dedication to service, ethical conduct, and collegiality within the practice of law.

In 2012, Mr. Toering was one of three private practice attorneys to attend Governor Rick Snyder’s signing of legislation establishing specialized business courts in Michigan. He has also served on numerous committees for the Business Law Section, including the Small Business Forum (past chair), Law Schools Committee (past chair), a subcommittee on shareholder oppression (current), and a committee on diversity (past involvement).

Mr. Toering has presented on business courts to the Business Law Section, Michigan’s Institute for Continuing Legal Education, and the Michigan Association of Certified Public Accountants. In addition, he has authored articles on business courts for the ABA’s Business Law Today, the National Judicial College, The Michigan Bar Journal, and Michigan Business Law Journal. Since 2012, Mr. Toering has regularly authored or co-authored the chapter on Michigan’s business courts for the American Bar Association’s Review of Recent Developments in Business and Corporate Litigation. Since 2018, Mr. Toering has also authored or co-authored a regular column in the Michigan Business Law Journal titled, “Touring the Business Courts.”  Mr. Toering also served on the committee that drafted the Business Law Section’s amicus curiae brief to the Michigan Supreme Court in Madugula v. Taub, 496 Mich. 685 (2014) and chaired the committee for the Business Law Section’s amicus curiae brief to the Michigan Supreme Court in Murphy v. Inman et al, 509 Mich. 132 (2022).

Mr. Toering has also served on advisory committees for the Oakland County Business Court (for which he has done volunteer discovery facilitation) and the Macomb County Business Court. Mr. Toering has also served on a committee on case evaluation established by the Michigan State Court Administrative Office; during that time, he also served on a subcommittee dealing with certain amendments to the Michigan Court Rules.  He has also served on committees for the State Bar of Michigan’s Business Law Section on amendments to the business court statute and the Michigan Business Corporation Act.  On September 12, 2024, he moderated a program on mediation for business court judges and litigators co-sponsored by the Michigan Judicial Institute and the Commercial Litigation Committee. 

For over 20 years, Mr. Toering has served on the board of directors for a small, faith-based legal aid clinic, Christian Legal Aid of Southeastern Michigan. Mr. Toering and his wife Deb have three adult children, a daughter-in-law, a son-in-law, and three granddaughters.