Litigation

In 2007, Brett Appelman established Appelman Law LLC with the mission of safeguarding and advocating for the rights of individuals accused of crimes. Brett firmly believes that every defendant, regardless of the charges they face, deserves the most exceptional legal defense possible. Brett personally handles a wide array of complex cases at the highest level, including Attempted Murder, Kidnapping, Aggravated Sexual Assault, and individuals charged with multiple DUI offenses. He has consistently achieved successful outcomes for clients facing various criminal charges, such as DUI, Aggravated Battery, Solicitation, Attempted Murder, Armed Robbery, Tax Evasion, and Felony Drug Possession and Delivery. Originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan, Brett pursued his undergraduate studies at the University of Michigan. He then earned a Master's Degree in Forensic Psychology from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice before attending law school at the University of Wisconsin. Prior to establishing his own firm, Brett gained valuable experience as an Assistant Public Defender in Kane County, Illinois. During his time there, he defended numerous DUI and Driving While Suspended cases, as well as various misdemeanors. Additionally, Brett served as the defense attorney on the board of the Treatment Alternative Court, Kane County's specialized mental health court. In a remarkable accomplishment in 2016, Brett secured a Not Guilty By Reason Of Insanity verdict in a felony trial, sparing his client from potentially facing decades of imprisonment for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. To schedule your free consultation with the Naperville, IL Criminal Defense Attorney, visit online or call 630-717-7801.

Shawn Oliphant is a founding partner of Viloria, Oliphant, Oster & Aman, L.L.P. who has been practicing law for 25 years. Mr. Oliphant handles serious personal injury and wrongful death claims and is the head of the firm’s civil litigation group. Mr. Oliphant represents those injured or killed by the fault of others. His litigation background is invaluable if insurance companies refuse to offer his personal injury clients a fair settlement and litigation becomes necessary. Mr. Oliphant’s goal is to take over the burden of personal injury victims and allow them to relax knowing that he will do everything possible to achieve the best result possible. Mr. Oliphant is a member of the Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys and has represented victims of commercial truck accidents. If you have been seriously injured due to the fault of others, please call Mr. Oliphant and schedule a free and confidential consultation today.

Joe Mallon is the managing partner of the firm with over 25 years of successfully litigating personal injury and employment cases in federal and state courts throughout the region. During this time, he had distinguished himself as one of Maryland's leading trial attorneys. He has been lead counsel in more than 70 civil trials before juries and judges in Maryland and the District of Columbia. He has achieved numerous large jury verdicts and settlements in state and federal courts in cases that are highly complex and often high profile. He is known for his thorough representation of clients, as evidenced by his remarkable courtroom victories. Described by The Baltimore Sun as advancing “precise legal arguments,” and by a federal judge as obtaining “extraordinary results,” Mr. Mallon has obtained many multi-million dollar results for his clients. The breadth of his practice includes cases of local and national importance. Based on his professional achievement, Mr. Mallon has been voted by his peers as a Super Lawyer in general civil litigation from 2009-2018. Mr. Mallon is a past leader of the J. Dudley Digges Inn of Court. He has frequently been invited to lecture at legal seminars for professional associations. Mr. Mallon previously served as Co-Chair of the American Bar Association, Litigation Section’s Standing Committee on Solo and Small Firms.

Born in South Dakota, raised in Iowa, and now practicing law in Minnesota, Blake is the very definition of a Midwestern lawyer. He attended the University of Iowa, graduating in 2004 and received a bachelor's degree in English literature and philosophy. After college, he went to Drake Law School in Des Moines, Iowa. He graduated law school in 2010 and was admitted to the Iowa bar in the same year. Blake founded Lubinus Law Firm, PLLC in 2011, which became Lubinus & Merrill, P.L.C. in 2019, and practiced in the Des Moines metro area and surrounding rural counties for nearly ten years. His primary areas of focus were criminal defense, juvenile welfare, and family law. After the uncertainty and chaos brought on by the pandemic in 2020, Blake moved to Minnesota this past September to be closer to his family. He was hired on at Ed Shaw Law in April of 2021 and will be practicing primarily in the areas of probate, family law, and general civil litigation. In his free time, Blake plays live music at local venues, enjoys backpacking and kayaking, cheering on the Iowa Hawkeyes and Chicago Cubs, and spending time with his family. He is excited to join the Brainerd legal community and looks forward to getting to know his fellow colleagues.

Will Harty is Partner at Harty Jewell, PLLC, where he represents clients in product liability, personal injury, and maritime tort trial litigation, and appellate practice. As a trial attorney, Mr. Harty and his colleagues have won several multi-million dollar product liability verdicts. In his appellate practice, Will has represented clients in complex legal issues before the Virginia Supreme Court, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court of the United States. -Regularly consulted and retained by other firms across the nation on maritime issues; -Gives national-level presentations and continuing legal education seminars on maritime law, tort litigation, and trial and appellate strategy; -Member of the Boyd-Graves Conference, an invitation-only conference of Virginia attorneys, judges, and legislators, which studies legal issues and makes recommendations for changes to Virginia law. -Member of the Maritime Law Association of the United States. -Former law clerk for Judge (now Virginia Supreme Court Justice) D. Arthur Kelsey of the Virginia Court of Appeals. -Former U.S. Army Infantry officer and Airborne Ranger, 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82d Airborne Division, and 2nd Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (Opposition Forces). -Combat Veteran, Operation Just Cause, Panama 1989, and First Gulf War, 1990-1991.

Mac Hester is an experienced trial lawyer. He has litigated and tried personal injury and commercial law cases in South Carolina and Colorado since 1986. He has also handled appeals in the Supreme Court of South Carolina and the Supreme Court of Colorado. Growing up on a farm in South Carolina in the ’60s, the south was still segregated. Even as a young child, he sensed that there was something wrong with this — and his feelings were confirmed after watching the movie To Kill a Mockingbird. The film told the story of a small town lawyer by the name of Atticus Finch who defends a black man against a false criminal charge. Atticus stands up to racism and defends the rule of law at great personal and professional sacrifice. While Atticus was a man of great nobility, he was still only a movie character. Fortunately, Mac had a role model in real life who treated every person with dignity and respect. His father served in the U.S. Army where he met a Japanese woman who worked for the U.S. Army in Tokyo. The two married and had four children. With their support, Mac set out to become an attorney and really enjoyed law school. He found he had a knack for always being prepared in class, vigorously defend his position, and fiercely advocating his case — skills that would prove to come in handy in the courtroom. After graduating from law school, Mac continued to hone his skills practicing law for a small firm. In 1989, Mac moved to Colorado and later made Fort Collins his home in 1991. After settling into Fort Collins and starting a family, Mac worked for an insurance defense law firm and spent over three years gaining valuable insight into the defense side. Since then, he has worked strictly for plaintiffs in personal injury litigation — including the largest plaintiff’s injury law firm in Colorado — before setting out to start his own practice, Mac Hester Law. A believer in continuing professional development, Mac is a member of several organizations and actively writes articles for CTLA’s Trial Talk magazine and Auto Litigation Handbook. He also presents at seminars for CTLA and the Colorado Bar Association.

Jake is the founder of Anderson Hinkins, LLC. His areas of practice include general litigation, business law and litigation, family law litigation, personal injury law, and wills and trusts. Jake finds satisfaction in helping his clients navigate the legal system to achieve the best possible solutions.

Nathan Langston was raised here in St. George, Utah. He can relate to our locals in that some of us may be a bit hesitant to even contact a personal injury attorney. Nate gets it, and he can help. Nate is the head of the litigation department at McMullin Injury Law. Before joining our firm in 2018, Nate spent most of the last decade working at three different large personal injury law firms across the State of Utah. He has an enormous amount of experience in litigating cases through lawsuits once negotiations with the insurance company break down. Nate is a seasoned trial lawyer with a vast amount of jury trial experience. His experience in personal injury motion practice is second to none in Southern Utah. Nate knows all too well the runaround we Southern Utahn’s get when dealing with insurance claims departments. He loves being available to his clients to walk them through the process and answer any questions. His breadth of litigation and trial experience has given Nate the reputation of a bit of a bulldog. Nate graduated from the University of Utah with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and then stayed at the U to complete law school as well. His legal education from the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah gave Nate exposure to top-notch legal training in a variety of areas of the law. Nate enjoys off-roading and camping in Utah’s Dixie National Forest with his family. He also loves board sports including snowboarding, skimboarding on the Virgin River, and Onewheeling around his neighborhood. Nate is married and has two young children.

Over the past decade Lynn Seithel has litigated against some of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world including American Home Products, Wyeth, and Glaxosmithkline to name a few. She was one of the first to pursue lawsuits against the makers of Avandia®, Advair®, Paxil®, Serevent®, Vioxx®, Yaz®, and Trasylol®. Over the years, a large portion of her practice centered on representing parents and children in birth defect litigation as a result of mothers taking potentially dangerous drugs during pregnancy that lacked adequate safety warnings. Some of the potentially dangerous drugs during pregnancy include Paxil®, Zoloft®, Prozac®, Wellbutrin®, Depakote®, Diflucan®, Topomax® and Serequel®. Although she primarily concentrates on pharmaceutical litigation, her past experience includes work in tobacco and auto defect litigation as well.

Ashley Ameika, Esq. received her Bachelor's Degree from the University of Notre Dame where she was consistently on Dean's List and graduated cum laude. She then went on to receive her Juris Doctor from Thomas Cooley School of Law, where she was on the Dean's List. While in law school she participated in the 60+ Elder Law Clinic and she concentrated in the field of Litigation. She is licensed and is a member in good standing in South Carolina in State and Federal Court. She practices in the areas of serious personal injury, criminal defense, and domestic litigation.