Butler Buchanan, III is a graduate of Millersville University. He then attended the Duquesne University School of Law in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, graduating in 1979. Upon graduation, he joined the Bucks County District Attorney's Office in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, initially as an Assistant District Attorney, and within two years being promoted to the position of Deputy District Attorney. Butler tried numerous felony cases to verdict during his tenure there.

In 1983, Butler joined the legal staff of Betz Laboratories, Inc., a specialty chemical concern whose corporate offices were located in Trevose, Pennsylvania. While there, Butler advised company executives on a variety of legal issues and was involved in defending the company from lawsuits brought by state and federal authorities for alleged environmental contamination. In addition to those duties, Butler was responsible for the procurement and administration of the company's insurance on an international basis. This role entailed and negotiating insurance coverages with and through the insurance brokerage firms, and in many instances, negotiating directly with underwriters.

After leaving Betz, Butler joined another insurance defense firm in the Philadelphia area, concentrating his practice in insurance coverage, including environmental claims, insurance coverage litigation, insurance Agents and Brokers Errors & Omissions defense, liquor liability defense and general commercial litigation.

Butler began practice with Marshall, Dennehey in 1999, joining the firm's growing Professional Liability Practice Group and concentrating his practice in the defense of insurance agents and brokers, securities dealers and attorneys; insurance coverage; generic insurance defense; and commercial litigation. As a concurrent member of the firm's Securities & Investment Practice Group, Butler and other group members protect the interests of numerous NASD and NYSE member broker-dealers, Registered Representatives, Certified Financial Planners, insurance agents and brokers and other securities and insurance industry professionals throughout the United States.

Butler is a Past President of the Philadelphia Association of Defense Counsel (PADC), where he has served as the President for the year June, 2000 to June 2001. He is also a member of the Defense Research Institute, and was elected to a three year term on the Board of Directors of that organization and its Annual Meeting in October, 2001. In that role, he serves as DRI's liaison to the Pennsylvania Defense Institute, as well as to PADC.  Butler is a member of the Philadelphia Bar Association and currently serves on the Association's Board of Governors.  He is a member of the American Bar Association, where he served as Vice-Chair of the Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee of the Tort and Insurance Practice Section from 1996 to 1998, and, of the Professional Liability Underwriting Society. 

Mr. Buchanan has lectured on various coverage issues at DRI Annual Meetings. In 2002, Butler lectured on Technology and Law - Legal Issues Pertaining to The Use of E-Mail and Electronic Documents Storage at the DRI Electronic Discovery Seminar in Chicago, Illinois.  Also, in 2002, Butler lectured on recent developments concerning class action litigation at both the DRI Insurance Roundtable in Chicago, Illinois and the DRI Insurance Coverage and Practice Seminar in New York, New York.  He has also lectured before the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and the National Insurance Industry Association, among others.