LaPorte County Lawyers

An experience litigator, Pat focuses his practice on business and commercial litigation, and intellectual property litigation. He has handled matters involving trademark and copyright infringement, insurance defense, unfair competition, product liability, non-solicitation agreements, injunctions, breach of fiduciary duty, negligence, and bet-the-company litigation. Throughout his career he has been lead counsel on more than 100 jury trials and more than 1,000 arbitrations, mediations, depositions, and hearings.

Thomas Niezer focuses his practice on real estate law, land use planning, and real estate finance law, with a dual emphasis in commercial transactions and residential real estate development, sales, and purchases. He also focuses on representing commercial and non-profit development entities on a variety of redevelopment and new development initiatives. With over 30 years of experience, Tom has represented real estate development clients before planning commissions, boards of zoning appeals, local engineering, surveying, traffic, utility, and storm water governmental departments. He has worked with clients in real estate acquisitions, sales, leasing, and construction matters. Tom regularly works with local...

Jim Hanson has a diverse background that provides him with context to find solutions to complex challenges. Jim has significant experience with Criminal Law and Family Law as well as both legal and practical experience with Business Law, Real Estate, Probate and General Civil Litigation. Jim served as a Korean linguist with the United States Army. This experience allows Jim to more easily navigate cultural and language barriers when resolving legal issues.

Bachelor of Science Degree in Finance with Honors from Indiana University in 1987, his Masters of Business Administration from Indiana University in 1988 and Doctor of Jurisprudence from Capital Law University in 1995. Admitted to the practice of law in 1995 in the State of Indiana and began practice in April of 1996 and have limited practice to consumer and small business bankruptcies since inception. The practice primarily focuses on debtor representation in the United States Bankruptcy Courts in the Southern and Northern Districts of Indiana. I frequently given seminars on the topic of consumer bankruptcy...

After working for over 11 years in the court system as a juvenile probation officer, I have witnessed and been a part of many aspects of the court system. The courts and the laws have the ability to protect its citizens who plan well and prepare for their future and the future of their family. I am here to assist you in preparing for the future of your family through estate planning, child custody, adoption, family law, and criminal defense.

Lauren Minke concentrates her practice in the area of litigation, with an emphasis in insurance defense and medical malpractice defense. She also represents clients in general liability defense and provides litigation services related to disputes concerning premises liability, real estate, and contracts. She has first chair bench trial and second-chair jury trial experience.

One of the most enjoyable parts of being a lawyer is combining my genuine interest in others with my passion for helping people and fixing situations.

Most people seem to have headaches in a few key areas. That’s why I focus on the fields of family law (divorce, visitation, guardianships, etc.), business law (business formation, law suits, breach of contract, etc.), real estate law and personal injury (car accidents, slip and fall accidents, dog bites, and other acts of negligence).

My Experience
I started my career as a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney in Fort Wayne, Indiana. I “paid my dues” in busy courtrooms and...

David Pricer concentrates his practice in the area of litigation, including commercial litigation, premises liability, professional liability, general liability claims and contract disputes. He has also handled appeals, real estate and transactional and municipal public employment cases and has extensive experience in legal research and analysis. Prior to joining Barrett McNagny, Mr. Pricer was a Partner at a local law firm where he focused on appeals, trusts, business associations, and real estate transactions. He also served as a judicial law clerk for the Hon. Thomas J. Felts where he was responsible for the civil docket and formulating legal recommendations from trial,...

Sabrina T. Victor is a member of Barrett McNagny’s Corporate and Business Law Group. Sabrina represents corporate clients in mergers and acquisitions, business formation, leveraged buyouts, corporate restructurings, and other corporate governance matters. She also represents clients with “Regulation D” and registered public securities offerings. Prior to joining Barrett McNagny, Sabrina worked at an international law firm where she advised private companies, private equity funds and strategic investors on a range of complex corporate matters, including mergers and acquisitions, private equity transactions, and general corporate matters. Some of her representative matters include: - Represented a client in its $84 million purchase of...

Marcus A. Heminger concentrates his practice in the areas of corporate and business law and securities law. He has extensive experience in corporate transactions, mergers, acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures, private and registered public securities offerings, SEC reporting compliance, and NYSE and NASDAQ regulatory compliance. Prior to returning to Fort Wayne and joining Barrett McNagny, Marcus spent more than five years working at one of New York's largest law firms, where he gained valuable experience with the firm's Capital Markets Group. His corporate governance and securities law experience also includes drafting and reviewing SEC disclosure documents, including Annual Reports, Quarterly Reports, Current...

Ben is a litigator with a focus on intense litigation and trial work. He has spent his career advocating for people and businesses involved in lawsuits. He represents both plaintiffs and defendants, although certain client relationships preclude his representation against some professionals. Ben's focus on trial work began when he was a member of the Indiana University intercollegiate trial team for each of his three years of law school. Since then, he has sought out trial-intensive work and has participated in the presentation of over fifteen trials to a jury, with most of those trials involving the defense of doctors and...

A trial lawyer, Robert T. Keen has extensive experience handling cases in state and federal courts across the State of Indiana for insurance companies, businesses and governmental entities. He focuses on commercial litigation, insurance defense, premises liability, products liability and employment litigation. He also has experience defending local governments and police officers against lawsuits. He is a member of the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel, the Defense Trial Counsel of Indiana, and the Defense Research Institute.

We provide bankruptcy and personal injury legal services to the greater Indianapolis and Central Indiana area.

With nearly two decades of experience, Emily approaches issues in a practical and compassionate manner for clients. In her domestic and family law practice, Emily Szaferski concentrates on dissolutions, adoptions, paternity matters, custody disputes, child support issues, and guardianships. She handles various types of adoptions including private, agency and foster adoptions, adoptions that involve the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children, and the finalization of international adoptions.

Mike has spent the last two decades litigating business and commercial disputes throughout Indiana and Michigan. He has litigated a wide range of disputes, representing both plaintiffs and defendants, including wrongful death actions, securities violations, contractual disputes, trade secrets actions, trademark and copyright infringement, coverage actions, and construction disputes. Mike has handled dozens of noncompetition cases both on behalf of the employer and the employee including during the preliminary injunction phase, at trial, and on appeal. Mike has participated in approximately 100 appeals in the state and federal courts of Indiana and Michigan and has argued numerous times before the...

Josh has extensive experience in servicing businesses and individuals in all areas of real estate law, including land use, financing, real estate taxation, and government incentives. He regularly represents businesses in matters concerning the purchase, sale, financing, leasing and development of commercial and industrial real estate and the identification and negotiation of state, regional and local government-based economic development incentives in connection with such projects. Josh has appeared before county boards of zoning appeals and plan commissions in connection with land use and development matters, including rezoning requests, development plans, and variances. He also works with various local, regional, and...

Chad E. Delventhal grew up in Auburn, Indiana, graduated from Indiana University with a B.A. in Business in 1996, and earned his J.D. from the University of Dayton School of Law in 2008. He founded The Delventhal Law Office in 2009 after working for Boughter Law Office. Chad practices exclusively in personal injury, criminal, and civil rights cases and is often consulted by other attorneys on complex injury and wrongful death cases.

Christopher L. LaPan practices exclusively as a family lawyer, civil litigator, and mediator. He received his Juris Doctorate from Michigan State University in 2009, and is admitted to practice law in the Indiana Supreme Court and the United States District Courts, Northern and Southern Districts of Indiana. He also holds a Masters Degree from Purdue University. Chris is formally trained in collaborative lawyering, and is a member of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts. His ability to successfully navigate even the most contentious and complicated divorces to creatively advocate for his clients inspires a fluid transition from being together...

. Bryan Nugen is the founder of Nugen Law, having practiced in the areas of Elder Law and Estate Planning for more than three decades, holding licenses in Indiana, Florida, Ohio and Michigan. His responsibility is first to the clients of Nugen Law, assuring they receive the compassionate, individualized and quality legal representation they deserve, and second to the team at Nugen Law – creating a professional, supportive and positive working environment for his interdisciplinary team. Bryan’s passion for working in the practice areas of estate planning and elder law stem from his nurturing spirit, motivation...

Gregory A. Cranston represents clients (adults and children) who have been charged with a crime or who are under investigation. Greg has represented clients throughout many counties within Indiana in cases involving serious felonies, misdemeanors and driving related matters. He has also represented clients in family law cases, landlord and tenant issues, civil lawsuits, and personal injury.

Cranston Law Can:

Help you understand the charges against you

Learn the potential range of outcomes for people in situations like yours

Provide general expectations for outcomes based on experience

Help navigate you through the system

Mount a strong defense on your behalf

Make sure your rights are protected every...

Jake Gattuso focuses his practice in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, and real estate law. He has experience working with businesses of various sizes, and represents clients in the initial formation stages, and provides day-to-day operational counsel such as providing assistance with respect to the negotiation and drafting of third-party contracts, internal governance matters. Similarly, he represents clients in the growth or fundraising stages, by providing guidance for private placements, Regulation D securities offerings, and similar matters involving state “blue-sky” laws and federal securities laws compliance. Further, Jake assists clients buying and selling businesses of various sizes. Additionally, Jake represents...

Connor Fleck concentrates his practice in the area of intellectual property where he assists clients with filing for patents, securing trademarks and helping to register and enforce copyrights. While obtaining his undergraduate degree Connor worked as a Design Engineer for a manufacture of cast aluminum automotive parts in Ohio and was a mechanical engineering intern at Steel Dynamics, Inc.

Caleb Peery is a member of the litigation team where he handles matters involving insurance defense, commercial litigation premises liability, products liability, collections, and contract disputes. He has experience with the court system, as he spent time following law school clerking for the Honorable Jennifer DeGroote and the Honorable Andrew Williams in Allen County Superior Court. During law school, he was a judicial intern for the Honorable Rossie Alston at the Albert V. Bryan U.S. Courthouse in Alexandria, VA and for the Honorable Daniel Ortiz in Fairfax County Circuit Court in Fairfax, VA.

Lewis Ostermeyer is part of our business transactions team assisting with drafting and reviewing of contracts, regulatory compliance, and due diligence. He also supports business clients with general corporate matters, including advising on business structure and entity formation. Prior to joining the firm, Lewis spent two years as a Legislative Assistant for the Indiana House of Representatives, where he worked alongside three state legislators and staffed the Courts and Criminal Code Committee and other criminal justice committees and councils. He also has worked in the Allen County Voter Registration Office and in the office of the Allen County Board of Commissioners.

Ben Bailey works with businesses and individuals in all stages of real estate transactions such as the purchase, sale, financing, and leasing of commercial, industrial, rental, and residential property. He provides counsel to landowners and prospective landowners on environmental diligence, environmental risk assessment, and risk mitigation. Ben also assists with economic development efforts by helping clients with securing local and state funding. Prior to joining the firm, he completed a one-year clerkship with Justice Derek R. Molter of the Indiana Supreme Court.

John Frandsen works with our transaction group which serves business clients of all sizes from sole proprietorships to Fortune 500 companies. The group provides assistance with entity selection for new businesses, the drafting of operating agreements, bylaws and shareholder agreements, and the sale and purchase of businesses, including the due diligence process and the enforceability of non-competition agreements in connection with the sale of a business.

Brian focuses his practice in the areas of wills and trusts, the avoidance or reduction of estate, inheritance, and generation-skipping taxes. He also consults business owners regarding the choice of entity issues, valuation issues, buy-sell agreements, and business succession issues. A Fort Wayne native, Brian practiced for over twenty years assisting estate planning clients in the State of Florida prior to joining Barrett McNagny. Brian is licensed to practice law in the states of Indiana, Florida, and Arizona (inactive).

A partner at Barrett McNagny, Phil focuses his practice on business transactions, business succession planning, federal and state taxation, estate planning, probate matters, and estate administration. Phil also advises business owners regarding the choice of entity issues, valuation issues, buy-sell agreements, and business succession issues.

Brandon focuses his practice in the area of real estate and land use law where he assists clients with the purchase and sale of real estate, commercial and residential leasing, development agreements, land use planning, and zoning. Prior to joining the firm, Brandon worked for the City of Fort Wayne where he practiced in the areas of utility, regulatory and municipal law. He has experience with the negotiation, review and/or preparation of contracts for real estate acquisitions, drafting and enforcing local ordinances and compliance with state regulatory requirements.

Maria works with the family and domestic law team assisting clients with dissolutions, adoptions and guardianships. The team also is experienced at handling custody and child support issues, paternity issues and acting in the role of a guardian ad litem.

Gurleen Kahlon concentrates her practice in the areas of commercial litigation and general liability defense. Specifically, she provides litigation services related to disputes concerning contracts, real estate, insurance defense matters, and premises liability. Prior to joining the firm, Gurleen practiced in Washington D.C. at a litigation firm where she focused her practice primarily in the areas of insurance coverage and bankruptcy disputes involving commercial liability, products liability, and complex torts. She assisted in representing major insurance companies in complex litigation in federal and state courts across the country.

Gregory L. Fumarolo graduated from Indiana University School of Business in 1975 and Indiana University School of Law (Indianapolis) in 1978. His legal career began in 1978 as an Allen Superior Court Law Clerk. Fumarolo was Chief Deputy Prosecutor of Allen County from 1983 to 1986, but the vast majority of his career has been in the criminal defense arena either via private practice or as a public defender, primarily in Allen County.

His practice has included death penalty litigation, appellate practice, trial practice and as court appointed lawyer in CHINS and TPR cases. Mr. Fumarolo’s career as a public defender...

Shannon gives his total commitment and vigorous representation to all clients. The most rewarding part of his practice is working with clients and helping guide them through difficult situations. He graduated cum laude from DePauw University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, and later from Saint Louis University School of Law. He has given presentations for the Indiana Continuing Legal Education Forum (ICLEF) and various other groups. He is a graduate of the ICLEF Trial Advocacy College. He is the District 5 Representative for the Indiana Bar Litigation Section Council, and a past President of...

Gary is the Chair of the firm's Labor and Employment Practice Group. He advises clients in all areas of employment and labor law. Gary's strengths are his responsiveness and his ability to communicate complex subjects in a straightforward and understandable way.

Gary represents a wide range of clients, including steel manufacturers, automotive suppliers, health-care providers, municipalities, print shops, agribusiness, construction companies, and food producers. He has represented and advised clients in over twenty U.S. states and Canada. Although Gary’s primary expertise is employment and labor law, many clients seek Gary’s advice on a wide range of legal issues because...

Jennifer Naue attended IU Robert H. McKinney School of Law. After living in Indianapolis for a few years, Jennifer Naue practiced in White County and Benton County before making the move to Kosciusko County to be closer to her family. Jennifer invested in the community and strives for excellence in her legal representation. Jennifer Naue practices primarily in Kosciusko County and Marshall County, but for certain legal issues she can provide legal services across Indiana. Upon admission to practice law, Jennifer Naue began her legal career as a staff attorney for the Department of Child Services. After working for the State...

Providing no-nonsense legal representation at a reasonable price for more than 25 years.

During high school, Benjamin (“Ben”) Bentrup won numerous #1-in-state awards for his Spanish classes. After completing both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Spanish, he embarked upon a ten-year teaching career. Concerned about the state of religious freedom in our country, he decided to enter law school and subsequently graduated in the top quartile from Ave Maria School of Law. In law school, Ben achieved the Dean’s List twice, and scored above an A- average combined (graded on a class curve) on his research papers. He won the CALI Award for Excellence in Bioethics (top grade in class),...

Injured? Arrested? Get Justice. For over 22 years Susannah Hall-Justice has been helping the people of Lafayette IN with their personal injury, car accidents, criminal defense, wrongful death, slip and fall and expungement cases. Call Hall-Justice law firm for a free case evaluation. We will fight to give you the personal justice you deserve and help you get your life back in order.

I was born and raised in the greater Lafayette area. I pursued my undergraduate studies in Political Science and Law & Society at Purdue University, where I graduated with Highest Distinction. During my time at Purdue, I was honored with Phi Beta Kappa recognition and was nominated as an Outstanding Senior in Political Science. I furthered my legal education at Indiana University Maurer School of Law. There, I was an Indiana Conference for Legal Education Opportunity (ICLEO) Fellow and served as a Judge Coordinator for the Sherman Minton Moot Court Competition. Additionally, I had the opportunity to clerk for the Honorable...