Indiana's best lawyers: who are the 340 attorneys picked by their peers?

• Author: McKimmie, Kathy
• Position: LAW

EVERYONE LIKES TO peruse "best" lists and "top" lists. Lists of hospitals. Lists of doctors. Lists of top business schools and top-paid CEOs. So if we need a lawyer, you can bet we'd look for a list of those, too. Publishers of the book Best Lawyers in America have made access to the best lawyers easy in all 50 states and D.C. Since 1983, South Carolina-based Woodward/ White has published its list of more than 27,000 lawyers nationwide based on surveys from some 24,000 of the country's top attorneys. This year, 340 lawyers in Indiana made the cut.

Although the full list of Indiana's best is published here, we've also profiled 20 attorneys in different practice areas throughout the state.

BANKING LAW

Claudia Swhier, Barnes & Thornburg, Indianapolis

"I majored in philosophy at Yale," says Swhier. "That meant reading deep philosophical treatises and understanding them. I make complex projects simple, such as a stock conversion of a thrift. It's a relatively complex transaction, but I organize what needs to be done when."

She joined the firm upon graduation from Harvard Law School in 1975 and one of her first clients was Indiana National Bank. When the state's banking laws changed in the '80s, acquisition and merger work was plentiful, and since 1989 she has worked on two or three conversions of mutual thrifts to stock companies a year. That makes Barnes and Thornburg more of a competitor with Washington D.C. law firms in that area, she says, than Indiana firms.

As a result of the stock conversions, Swhier has many publicly traded companies as clients. "I do a lot of security work. They are financial institutions, but I deal with the SEC quite a bit in my practice."

CORPORATE LAW

Daniel L. Boeglin, Baker & Daniels, Indianapolis

"My special niche is forming strategic alliances and joint ventures, mostly for clients in the life-sciences industries," says Boeglin. He joined the firm 21 years ago, starting in security deals, IPOs and acquisitions, and began concentrating in life sciences 10 years ago.

Eli Lilly, for example, may want to form an alliance with a small biotech firm to develop a drug, which it did with Cialis, he says. He has also helped Zimmer form alliances, and BioCrossroads, a public-private collaboration supporting life sciences in the state, has used his services for three joint ventures. Being at the epicenter of life-sciences deals is exciting, he says. "It's a really positive environment because the different participants are coming together to create something new and make something happen."

GAMING LAW

Lacy Johnson, Ice Miller, Indianapolis

While a state trooper attending law school in the mid-70s, Lacy Johnson got his first taste of working with the legislature and being exposed to politics as one of Gov. Otis Bowen's drivers. Years later when Ice Miller decided to beef up its government affairs area he was recruited to join the firm. Gaming was an immediate priority and in 1993, as one of the co-chairs in the gaming practice group, Johnson was a lead lobbyist when the Indiana Riverboat Gambling Act was enacted.

His personal style helps him get things done in the profession he loves because he can see how change is made and how government really works. "I'm a good listener and I think I care about people. I work hard. I'm relentless. I'll work 16 to 18 hours a day and get up the next day and do it again. I'll outwork the competition."

EMPLOYEE BENEFITS LAW

Melissa Proffitt Reese, Ice Miller, Indianapolis

It was a good bet that Melissa Proffitt Reese would become an attorney. Her mother is Hamilton County Circuit Court Judge Judith Proffitt, and her father John Proffitt is an attorney with Campbell Kyle Proffitt, Carmel, also on the Best Lawyers list.

With Ice Miller since 1985, Reese became a managing partner in 2002, working collaboratively with co-managing partners Byron Myers and Jack Bayt as a "very, very small executive committee or board of directors."

She liked employee benefits immediately because it was "very hands-on, very team-oriented," with less litigation than other areas. "I do a significant amount of work for a handful of clients. I very much enjoy long-term relationships with clients on a personal and professional level."

For the last 10 years Reese has been heavily involved in Republican politics and is currently vice chair of the Marion County Republican Central Committee.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW

Thomas Q. Henry, Woodard Emhardt Moriarty McNett & Henry, Indianapolis

With an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering, patent law sounded like the perfect fit for Henry when he heard of a position available with his firm, which specializes in intellectual property law...