Pleasant Lake Lawyers

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...

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...

Over the past decade, she has held executive roles in both the private and non-profit sectors, where she provided strategic and tactical leadership in a variety of capacities, including strategic initiatives and business development. She is the founder and principal of Bold Wave Consulting, LLC, a strategic initiatives consulting firm.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Attorney Rosy Meza, a member of the prestigious American Immigration Lawyers Association, is committed to assisting her clients in their quest of achieving the American Dream. With over 15 years of experience in the field, immigration law is both her mission and her passion.

Because immigration law is a dynamic and ever- changing field, it provides challenges and opportunities for problem-solving in a dedicated and creative manner. Fully bilingual in Spanish and English, Attorney Meza is able to bridge the cultural gap often present among the foreign-born and is able to make the client an intrinsic part of the team.

In addition...

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...

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...

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...

Matt Chapel is a Trial Lawyer based out of Fort Wayne, Indiana. He is a National Institute for Trial Advocacy Master Advocate and studied under Gerry Spence. Practicing criminal defense in Fort Wayne, Northeast Indiana and Northwest Ohio, Matt brings 23 years of experience to every case. Matt is a former U.S. Marine. Why is this significant? Because Matt brings his fighting spirit to every case - including yours.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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...

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.

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.

Zach has nearly twenty years of experience working with clients in the areas of elder law, estate planning, and probate & trust administration. He has experience working with individuals and families on asset protection, Medicaid eligibility, and long-term care planning. He also assists clients with wills and trusts, the appointment of health care representatives, powers of attorney, IRA and retirement planning, and general business matters.

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),...

Our firm represents small businesses and families in a wide variety of areas. Some of our main practice areas are litigation, estate planning, general corporate, real estate, probate/will disputes, elder law, and family law.

I am passionate about solving legal problems and helping clients get the outcomes they want.

Tamara is a 1986 graduate of the University of Notre Dame Law School and a partner in the law practice of Banik & Renner in Elkhart Indiana. Her practice focuses on Employment Discrimination, Bankruptcy (personal and business) and Social Security Disability. She has successfully represented employees in employment related matters involving major corporations such as Coca-Cola, Forrest River, Pharmacia-Upjohn, Memorial Hospital, Elkhart General Hospital, Teacher's Credit Union, and other national businesses as well as other Elkhart and South Bend Indiana businesses. The most successful representation occurs when an employee seeks guidance prior to being discharged! It is important...

Ann’s law practice is focused on appeals of Social Security Disability denials in federal district courts in Indiana. She is licensed to practice before the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, Supreme Court of the United States, and Indiana Supreme Court.

Robert J. Boughter, the founder of Boughter Sinak, LLC, dedicates his life to the representation of people seriously injured or killed in accidents and on the job. He is known as “The Fighter” because of his aggressive and straightforward approach to representing his clients in and out of court. Mr. Boughter prides himself on being honest, tenacious and loyal. He has a vast range of experience, having successfully prosecuted almost every type of injury or death case imaginable – from trucking accidents to chemical explosions. Mr. Boughter was born in New Castle, Pennsylvania. He received his undergraduate degrees in criminology...

Matt handles a wide variety of civil litigation, with a special focus on employment disputes. He has significant experience defending discrimination and retaliation lawsuits in state and federal courts. He also regularly handles wage claims, including class actions and collective actions, and advises individuals and employers regarding non-compete issues.

Beyond his employment practice, Matt helps clients resolve all types of other disputes. Representative areas of practice include will contests and estate litigation, insurance coverage, tort claims, business disputes and appeals.

Matt also regularly assists out-of-state attorneys as local counsel in Allen County and statewide.

Matt has been named to the...

Phil Truitt joined Truitt Law Offices in 2018 after he earned his J.D. from Ohio Northern University Ohio Northern Pettit College of Law. However, his association with the law firm dates all the way back to childhood. His father, Richard, established the firm over 40 years ago.

Growing up, Phil would spend a great deal of time at the firm’s offices. He began working for the law firm in high school and handled client intake and management roles throughout law school.

Today, Phil combines the practice of law with a role as administrator of the firm’s three offices in Indiana. Those duties...

I am a graduate of Valparaiso University School of Law, a member of the National Lawyers’ Guild, and a private practice attorney representing clients in Indiana State and Federal Courts concentrating in Personal Injury Practice, General Civil Litigation and Family Law.

Serious criminal defense. Significant Jury Trial Experience.

Jennifer has a diverse practice ranging from high conflict custody matters and complex divorce actions to collections. She regularly represents clients in Child of Need of Services actions, both as private counsel and Guardian Ad Litem. Jennifer is a registered domestic relations mediator. She is tough but fair, and strives to be at least one step ahead of the other side.

Felicity Havrilla is the co-founder of Havrilla & Nolin, LLC, a boutique law firm in downtown Warsaw, Indiana. Havrilla & Nolin, LLC represents seniors and disabled individuals with elder law, Medicaid, guardianship, estate planning, and probate matters. Havrilla & Nolin, LLC also represents health care providers with complex receivables issues.