Attorney Michael Forbes has more than 20 years of general practice experience. Formerly an exclusive provider of legal services to U.A.W. - Ford workers and their families in Kentuckiana through the UAW-Legal Services Plan. With over more than 15,000 matters handled, we will serve you well. Since 1994, we have helped 1,000's of clients in Kentucky and Southern Indiana find peace of mind through caring legal services. We help individuals and families experience better lives. Choose a Louisville attorney who cares about you. Our Mission We provide high quality legal services at a reasonable cost. We leverage technology, compassion and skill to pursue positive results quickly and efficiently while keeping you fully informed along the way. Currently accepting cases in the Louisville, Kentucky area as well as Clark and Floyd Counties in southern Indiana.

Working to protect Kentucky’s most vulnerable citizens and natural landscapes has long been Joe’s personal and professional passion. As an undergraduate student at the University of Kentucky, Joe successfully lobbied for Appalachian studies curricula and the formation of the UK Appalachian Center. As a law student, Joe spent his summers working throughout east Kentucky and central Appalachia with the Appalachian Land Ownership Task Force documenting absentee land and mineral ownership by out of state energy giants. This work inspired the creation of the Kentucky Fair Tax Coalition, which later became Kentuckians for the Commonwealth. Joe started his legal career with the Appalachian Research and Defense Fund (AppalRed) in Jackson, Kentucky, and has now been in private practice for forty years. He represented landowners in some of Kentucky’s most important mineral and tax litigation, which led to major reforms in property tax of unmined minerals and passage of the Broad Form Deed Amendment to the Kentucky Constitution in 1988. ​ From 1988 to 1992, Joe was a partner of Shepherd & Childers, where he practiced with now Franklin Circuit Court Judge Phillip Shepherd. From 2007 to 2011, Joe was a partner in Getty & Childers, a Lexington civil litigation firm. In 2012, Joe started Joe F. Childers & Associates, the predecessor to Childers & Baxter, PLLC. Joe has served on the boards of the Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center, Kentucky State University, Kentucky Employers Mutual Insurance Company, the State Board of Claims, and as Commissioner on the State Mine Safety Review Commission and the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. Since 2015, Joe has served as Board Chair of the Kentucky Resources Council. Joe and his wife Denise have two adult children.