Peers in the Illinois legal community have helped to select 20 HeplerBroom LLC lawyers as Leading Lawyers and 11 as Emerging Lawyers in 2015. Those designations of private practitioners by the Law Bulletin Publishing Company’s Leading Lawyers division include, respectively, less than 5 percent and 2 percent of registered Illinois lawyers.

Of the Leading Lawyers at HeplerBroom, six have continuously retained their prestigious status since 2003 when the honors began. Also, 11 of the firm’s attorneys have been named Emerging Lawyers in that program’s inaugural year.

In building its Leading Lawyers list, Law Bulletin Publishing Company conducted extensive statewide surveys asking: “If you couldn’t take a case in your area of law, to whom would you refer a family member or friend?” Lawyers could not nominate themselves or any lawyers at their own firm. All recommendations must be approved by the Leading Lawyers Advisory Board, eliminating the possibility of lawyers being selected through a popularity contest.

Like all Emerging Lawyers, the 11 HeplerBroom attorneys who earned that honor are age 40 or younger unless they have practiced law for 10 or fewer years.
In creating its list of Emerging Lawyers, Law Bulletin Publishing Company surveyed each Illinois Leading Lawyer, asking for the names of the state’s top up-and-coming talent who will determine the future of the legal profession.

“Clients and lawyers from St. Louis and Edwardsville to Springfield and Chicago know the litigation and corporate law results that HeplerBroom consistently delivers,” said Scott Anderson, director of Leading Lawyers and publisher of Leading Lawyers Magazine. “Our surveys and honors reveal how well regarded HeplerBroom truly is for both its seasoned leaders and its young, developing talent.”

The following HeplerBroom lawyers have been named Leading Lawyers:
Beth A. Bauer (Edwardsville): Class Action/Mass Tort Defense Law    
Brenda G. Baum (Edwardsville): Products Liability Defense Law; Toxic Torts Defense Law  
Troy A. Bozarth (Edwardsville): Class Action/Mass Tort Defense Law; Commercial Litigation; Personal Injury Defense Law: General; Transportation Defense Law: Including Aviation/FELA/Maritime 
Gordon R. Broom (Edwardsville): Class Action/Mass Tort Defense Law; Personal Injury Defense Law: General Products Liability Defense Law; Professional Malpractice Defense Law: Including Legal/Technical/Financial; Toxic Torts Defense Law
Daniel W. Farroll (Edwardsville): Personal Injury Defense Law: General; Products Liability Defense Law; Toxic Torts Defense Law 
Jeffrey S. Hebrank (Edwardsville): Class Action/Mass Tort Defense Law; Personal Injury Defense Law: General Products Liability Defense Law; Toxic Torts Defense Law 
Larry E. Hepler (Edwardsville): Class Action/Mass Tort Defense Law; Personal Injury Defense Law: General Products Liability Defense Law; Toxic Torts Defense Law
Lance T. Jones (Springfield): Commercial Litigation; Employment Law: Management; Governmental, Municipal, Lobbying & Administrative Law
Stephen R. Kaufmann (Edwardsville and Springfield): Class Action/Mass Tort Defense Law; Insurance, Insurance Coverage & Reinsurance Law; Personal Injury Defense Law: General; Products Liability Defense Law; Toxic Torts Defense Law
Gregg A. Kinney (Edwardsville): Products Liability Defense Law; Transportation Defense Law: Including Aviation/FELA/Maritime; Toxic Torts Defense Law
Theodore J. MacDonald, Jr. (Edwardsville and St. Louis): Commercial Litigation; Criminal Defense Law: White Collar; Medical Malpractice Defense Law; ADR Law: Personal Injury
Steven J. Martin (Chicago): Medical Malpractice Defense Law; Products Liability Defense Law; Professional Malpractice Defense Law: Including Legal/Technical/Financial
Gary A. Meadows (Edwardsville): Professional Malpractice Defense Law: Including Legal/Technical/Financial
W. Jason Rankin (Edwardsville): Class Action/Mass Tort Defense Law; Products Liability Defense Law
Michael Reda (Edwardsville): Personal Injury Defense Law: General    
Catherine Coyne Reiter (Chicago): Medical Malpractice Defense Law    
Robert H. Sands (Chicago): Personal Injury Defense Law: General; Products Liability Defense Law; Transportation Defense Law: Including Aviation/FELA/Maritime Toxic Torts Defense Law
Anne B. Schmidt (Edwardsville): Products Liability Defense Law; Toxic Torts Defense Law
Anthony J. Tunney (Chicago): Commercial Litigation; Insurance, Insurance Coverage & Reinsurance Law; Personal Injury Defense Law: General; Professional Malpractice Defense Law: Including Legal/Technical/Financial
Thomas H. Wilson (Springfield): Civil Appellate Law; Commercial Litigation 

The following HeplerBroom lawyers have been named Emerging Lawyers:
Andrew K. Carruthers (Edwardsville): Election, Political & Campaign Law; Governmental, Municipal, Lobbying & Administrative Law; Real Estate Law: Tax
Matthew B. Champlin (Edwardsville): Personal Injury Defense Law: General; Products Liability Defense Law
Jennifer A. Heydemann (Chicago): Medical Malpractice Defense Law  
Jason D. Johnson (Edwardsville): Commercial Litigation; Construction Law; Products Liability Defense Law
Daniel C. Lytle (Edwardsville): Commercial Litigation; Personal Injury Defense Law: General
Edna L. McLain (Chicago): Personal Injury Defense Law: General Products Liability Defense Law; Toxic Torts Defense Law
Michael P. Murphy (Springfield): Insurance, Insurance Coverage & Reinsurance Law; Personal Injury Defense Law: General; Products Liability Defense Law
Gregory W. Odom, II (Edwardsville): Toxic Torts Defense Law
Benjamin W. Powell (Edwardsville): Personal Injury Defense Law: General; Products Liability Defense Law; Transportation Defense Law: Including Aviation/FELA/Maritime
Noel L. Smith, Jr. (Edwardsville): Toxic Torts Defense Law  
Patrick W. Stufflebeam (Edwardsville): Products Liability Defense Law; Toxic Torts Defense Law