Wawaka Lawyers

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...

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,...

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...

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.

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...

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.

Your time is precious. So is your money. At Brooks Legal, we work hard to not waste either. Our team listens to your concerns, analyzes the problems, and partners with you to fix the issues swiftly and accurately. Legal concerns create consequential issues that require audacious responses. Don’t fight solo. From estates and trusts to business creation and entity selection, Brooks Legal has the resources and experience to guide you through even the most complex legal issues in today’s ever-changing world. We’re an experienced partner, not just a necessary purchase. Tanner Brooks, founding member of Brooks Legal, graduated magna cum laude from...

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...

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...

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.

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.

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...

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.

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...

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.

Dave Joley is a Fort Wayne native, graduating from Bishop Dwenger High School in 1996. He is admitted to practice law in the Federal Districts of Northern and Southern Indiana, as well as the State of Indiana. His practice areas include Worker’s Compensation, Personal Injury, and Family Law, with a concentration in Criminal Defense.

Mr. Joley is a previous member of the National College for DUI Defense, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, NORML, past member of Indiana Trial Lawyers Association, American Inns of Court, Benjamin Harrison Chapter, as...

Our focus is on Bankruptcies in 3 States: Indiana, Ohio, & Michigan.

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...

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.

Larry W. Rudawsky has over thirty years of experience in the area of employee benefits and has extensive knowledge in the areas of reviewing, developing and implementing defined benefit plans, defined contribution plans, non-qualified deferred compensation plans, employer-sponsored IRA plans and managed IRAs. Larry has overseen regulatory compliance for qualified, nonqualified, and VEBA plans and he has drafted plan documents for Taft-Hartley, 401(a), 401(k), 403(b), 457 and 409A plans. He counsels clients on employee benefit issues in mergers and acquisitions, on equity incentive compensation, and on the design and operation of Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs). Prior to joining the firm,...

Justin T. Molitoris concentrates his practice in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, data privacy and cybersecurity. He works with clients of all sizes including sole proprietors, family-owned businesses and Fortune 500 companies assisting with a variety of corporate and business law matters, ranging from business formation and organization, corporate governance matters, contract drafting and review, and business transitions. He also has experience working on antitrust matters and assisting companies with Hart-Scott-Rodino analysis. Justin is a Certified Information Privacy Professional (United States) by the International Association of Privacy Professionals. He advises businesses on the impact of privacy laws in...

Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer joined the faculty of Notre Dame Law School as an associate professor of law in 2005. He was promoted to professor in 2011. He earned his A.B., with distinction and honors, from Stanford University in 1989 and his J.D. from Yale Law School in 1994. While at Yale, he was a John M. Olin Fellow in Law and Economics and served as business editor of the Yale Law and Policy Review and as an editor of the Yale Journal on Regulation. Following graduation, he clerked for the Honorable Lowell A. Reed, Jr., United States District Court...