Brown Hay & Stephens LLP

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A Springfield, Illinois, Law Firm Offering Comprehensive Legal Services
Brown, Hay & Stephens, LLP, has roots dating back to 1828, and is recognized as the oldest law firm in Illinois. Just ten years after Illinois gained statehood, our founder, John Todd Stuart, opened our firm in Springfield. Many of Illinois' finest attorneys, including a young Abraham Lincoln, joined Stuart in the practice of law during the ensuing years. In 1921, the firm adopted the name of Brown, Hay & Stephens. Through many changes in partners and the legal environment over the past 180 years, we have remained committed to providing exceptional legal counsel and representation for businesses, government entities, and individuals in a diverse range of legal disciplines.
Today, as always, our lawyers remain dedicated to upholding our founding principles of expertise and integrity. We invite you to contact us to learn more about our firm's reputation for excellence and how we can use our experience to resolve your legal matters.
We focus our attention on providing experienced legal counsel and effective representation in the following areas of the law:
Real estate and environmental law: Complete legal services for both commercial and individual clients in the land development, real estate, and construction industries.
Energy and mineral law: We represent numerous oil, gas, coal and coalbed methane producers in litigation and regulatory matters before state and federal courts and administrative agencies. We protect the rights of mineral owners in conflicts with interstate natural gas and petroleum pipelines. We represent electric and gas public utilities in service area disputes with cooperatives and municipal utilities.
Creditor's rights, banking and finance law: We represent creditors, banks and lending institutions in many situations, from credit documentation to enforcement of the client’s rights.
Litigation: We represent plaintiffs and defendants in civil litigation disputes, through appeals in both state and federal courts if necessary, on matters relating to contracts, healthcare, trusts and estates, construction, labor and employment, partnerships, creditors' rights, and more.
Business law: We offer a complete range of transaction and litigation services for employers, including labor and employment law and commercial litigation.
Education and government law: We provide outside legal counsel for state, federal and local government entities, including municipalities and taxing bodies. We also serve educational institutions, school boards and other groups involved in education matters.
Healthcare law: We provide aggressive and effective defense for doctors, hospitals, and healthcare providers involved in medical malpractice litigation. We also represent clients with issues related to risk management, regulatory compliance, licensing and certification issues, business establishment, and many other concerns.
Family law and Elder law: For individuals, we offer a wide range of family law services, including legal matters involving divorce, child custody and visitation. We also provide a wide range of elder law services, including planning for disability and nursing home care. We also assist our clients in establishing and administering trusts and estates.
Trusts and estates: We help clients with all their estate needs, from wills, trusts and probate representation to guardianships and conservatorships, Medicaid planning and powers of attorney, as well as other estate planning services.
We offer a proven commitment to excellence
Our clients throughout Central Illinois benefit from our location in Springfield. Our city is the seat of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of state government and includes state and federal courts. Courts located within our Springfield city limits include the Supreme Court of Illinois, the Illinois Fourth District Appellate Court, the United States District and Bankruptcy Courts for the Central District of Illinois, and the Sangamon County Circuit Court.
Contact us to learn more about how we can help you resolve your legal matter. Throughout our history, we have developed and sustained relationships with many business entities, public institutions, and individuals, while participating in the community's important legal and civic activities. Our reputation for excellence results from our continued commitment to providing competent counsel with diligence and integrity for close to two centuries.