Plews Shadley Racher & Braun LLP

Founding Partner: George M. Plews

Name Partners: George M. Plews, Peter M. Racher, and Christopher J. Braun

Managing Partner: Ali Sylvia

Number of partners: 19

Number of all lawyers: 38

Offices: Indianapolis, Indiana and South Bend, Indiana

Founded in 1988 as a boutique environmental law firm offering environmental counseling and complex litigation services, today Plews Shadley Racher & Braun LLP (PSRB) has one of the largest environmental and insurance coverage practices in the Midwest. Their breadth and depth of experience and technical knowledge allow PSRB's attorneys to handle complex issues and everyday client matters in the areas of insurance coverage, environmental, litigation, real estate, and business law. Clientele include Fortune 500 multi-national companies, mid-market entities, small businesses, and individuals, often with hundreds of millions of dollars at stake. Client business sectors include manufacturers, utilities, municipalities, petroleum marketers, transportation companies, and large and small businesses of every sort. PSRB's attorneys are entrepreneurial, purpose-driven, and committed to working with clients in all stages of business growth or succession planning. The firm is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, with an office in South Bend, Indiana.

Insurance Coverage: PSRB’s insurance coverage practice is the largest in Indiana, national in scope, and represents policyholders. The firm has been instrumental in shaping Indiana law (and elsewhere) by successfully handling many of Indiana’s most important insurance coverage decisions. PSRB brings experience in a variety of insurance-policy types and coverages, including: liability claims, property losses, environmental, D&O, E&O, cyber, health, disability, life, and major auto disputes. The firm also represents policyholders in claims against insurance agents and brokers and help clients with all facets of insurance recovery. Whether it is arbitration, trial, or an appeal, clients regularly seek PSRB's assistance to handle insurance-recovery litigation. The attorneys also advise clients before there is a dispute and help clients find the coverage they need. This coverage portfolio review and risk assessment can help policyholders avoid disputes down the road when an unexpected claim arises.

Environmental: PSRB is one of the leading environmental law firms in Indiana and has focused on this area since the firm opened. Our attorneys have decades of experience in front of both federal and state regulatory agencies, and our clients benefit from our knowledge of the complex history behind environmental laws. Our team includes engineers and environmental science majors that feel comfortable with industrial processes. Our technical and scientific backgrounds allow us to fully understand clients’ special needs and to creatively solve their environmental legal problems from compliance counseling to enforcement to permitting. PSRB works with clients on a broad variety of regulation and permitting under the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Resource Conservation & Recovery Act (RCRA), as well as the corresponding state programs implementing these federal acts. We assist clients with cleanups and responses performed under both state and federal programs. We have experience working with local governmental authorities for your environmental issues, and can assist with due diligence and compliance issues around the country. PSRB’s environmental attorneys are comfortable with both administrative and litigation within courts ensuring that your same team can handle your issues from start to finish.Finally, PSRB will help you structure your transactions to limit or control your environmental liabilities.

Litigation: PSRB is experienced and knowledgeable in all aspects of litigation in state and federal courts as well as administrative proceedings. From minor disputes to complex, bet-the-company litigation, PSRB is equipped to handle litigation needs. The firm has successfully litigated a wide range of cases including environmental disputes, insurance coverage and recovery, products liability, medical malpractice, construction and design defects, class actions, employment claims, commercial & business disputes, catastrophic injury, wrongful death, and real estate litigation. Whether litigation or arbitration is required, the firm's strategic approach is designed to get the best possible result for the client while minimizing inconvenience and costs.

Real Estate: PSRB has been helping clients acquire, develop, finance, manage, lease, and sell commercial real estate for more than 35 years. The depth of the firm’s real estate practice encompasses virtually every aspect of commercial property transactions, including acquisitions, dispositions, developments, financings, construction, sale and leasebacks, space and ground leasing, land use, zoning and environmental issues, including assisting clients with environmental due diligence, regulatory compliance through state and federal remediation programs, liability for environmental cleanups and securing third-party funding sources to assist with cleanup costs and other real estate associated environmental issues. PSRB has experience with all types of real estate, including office, apartments, retail, industrial, condominiums, hotels, and mixed-use. The firm's experienced real estate team also advises clients on condemnation, zoning and land use, and property tax issues and provides their clients with the expertise to maintain and maximize the value of their properties. With a full-service litigation practice, if any dispute over real estate evolves into litigation, they are well qualified to represent their clients in litigation in state and federal courts at all levels, as well as alternative dispute resolution forums.

Business: PSRB’s broad business law practice has grown naturally out of the experience of the firms attorneys, and boasts a strong entrepreneurial tradition with many of the attorneys having founded new businesses. They regularly advise both public and privately held companies, as well as boards of directors and investors, on a variety of issues, including entity formation, corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, contract and financing issues, intellectual property protection, and private securities offerings. Due in part to their extensive experience with insurance litigation, PSRB is uniquely positioned to assist businesses in establishing and updating risk management plans to ensure they are well-protected from known and unexpected perils. The attorneys also counsel companies on a broad range of employment-law matters, including discrimination claims, compliance with federal and state requirements, covenants not to compete, trade secret violations, wage claims, and personnel policies and procedures.

Education & Schools

Energy & Utilities

Health Care & Life Sciences

Individuals & Closely Held Businesses

Manufacturing

Municipalities & Government

Nonprofit & Religious Organizations

Petroleum Marketers

Real Estate Development & Construction

Technology

Waste Services

Indianapolis, Indiana Office:

Plews Shadley Racher & Braun LLP

1346 N. Delaware Street

Indianapolis, IN 46202-2415

Tel. 317.637.0700

South Bend, Indiana Office:

Plews Shadley Racher & Braun LLP

1017 E. Jefferson Blvd.

South Bend, IN 46617

574.273.1010