In 1985, Dr. Beutel obtained his law degree from Loyola University. He was admitted to the bar in Illinois in 1986. He has lectured extensively on issues of health care law. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the Chicago Bar Association, the Illinois State Bar Association, the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association and the Amercian Association for Justice.

He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and the American College of Legal Medicine. He is a Member of the Society of Laproendoscopic Surgeons and the Christian Legal Society and a Diplomat of the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Thoracic Surgery. He has held a teaching appointment at Loyola Medical School and holds a certificate in Hospital Risk Management from University of Health Sciences and Chicago Medical School.

In 2001, he left the practice of medicine to work full-time as a civil litigator concentrating in the area of medical negligence. During his time as a civil litigator, Ernest Beutel has worked to help achieve several millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements in medical malpractice and other personal injury cases.

Dr. Ernest W. Beutel has been named a "Top Illinois Lawyer" by SuperLawyers.com and "Top Surgeon" in thoracic-cardiovascular surgery by "America's Top Surgeons".