Attorney Toqeer Chouhan ’01 is the founding partner of The Chouhan Law Firm, which focuses on small business and corporate law, and serves as a part-time Cobb County Magistrate Judge. He’s also been honored as one of 100 Influential Georgia Muslims by the Islamic Speakers Bureau of Atlanta. With a resume like this, it’s easy to assume Chouhan has always had a passion for the law. However, it took a twist or two of fate — plus a tight-knit Berry community and helpful mentors— to set him on this path.
During his senior year in high school, Chouhan said yes to a last-minute trip to Berry with a friend being recruited for baseball. Originally headed to another school, Chouhan fell for Berry and eventually settled on a business major with concentrations in finance and marketing.
He says close relationships and mutual responsibility rank among Berry’s great advantages: “The class sizes made Berry feel like one big support system. I’d have classes with the same people. When grades can affect friendships and vice versa, it is a different type of accountability. You’ve got to pitch in on the group project because you’re also hanging out after it’s finished.”
Chouhan’s job supervisor in intramural sports demonstrated how to lead a department while having a good time: “The atmosphere taught me to enjoy work and have fun,” says Chouhan. “You can get things done, and it doesn’t have to be rigid. These relationships positively impacted my growth. I see it in the way I approach my work and in my family life.”
After graduation, Chouhan took a job in finance but experienced a wake-up call when his boss commented that he could manage the office within five years. “I knew that was not what I wanted to be doing for the rest of my life,” Chouhan laughs. “I immediately signed up for the LSAT.”
His advisor, Henry Gund Professor of Economics Frank Stephenson, recognized that Chouhan might enjoy connections between finance and law. Chouhan proved him right — attending Mercer School of Law while simultaneously earning an MBA from Kennesaw State University. Between degrees and jobs, he married fellow alum Haydne Weese Chouhan ’01.
Chouhan notes the value of staying open to change. “At junctures like graduation, we often feel like we must have things figured out,” he says. “Every opportunity I took gave me skills that opened new doors. I didn’t always make the most money, but experiences were valuable in the end. And nobody can take away experience.”
