Bob’s past honors include being inducted into the Eastern Indiana Business Hall of Fame, and being the recipient of the Governor’s highest honor as Sagamore of the Wabash.

Bob’s continued law practice includes representing business interests of his many clients; estate planning and administration; and municipal law.

Partner, A.J. Sickmann, will be replacing Bob on the Chamber’s Board of Directors.

The post Bob Bever 2022 Art Vivian Distinguished Community Leader Award first appeared on BBFCS Law.

Joe was born at the “old” Reid Hospital, and raised right here in Richmond, Indiana.  Graduating from Richmond High School in 2001, he joined the Marine Corps on his 19^th birthday, just weeks prior to the 9/11 events.  During his enlistment, Joe completed two combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan as an Infantry Marine.  During the invasion of Iraq, Joe was a part of the “tip of the spear” and in Afghanistan, he fought in combat operations in the Kunar Province.

Following his service in the Marines, Joe attended undergraduate studies in North Carolina, where he graduated with a Bachelor’s in Arts degree in Political Science.  While in Wilmington, Joe played rugby for Cape Fear Rugby and surfed in his free time, although due to working for a personal injury law firm, doing every minute thing a small firm requires, did not allow for much free time.

From there, Joe attended Florida Coastal School of Law in Jacksonville, FL, interning and volunteered in the community extensively during his law school career.  One of those opportunities included writing wills, healthcare, and other estate planning instruments for US Navy reservists.  Additionally, he interned with Liberty Mutual and spent a semester learning to litigate title and mortgage cases.  As part of his International Law certificate requirements, he also traveled to Grand Cayman Island and participated in mock trial events at the Cayman Islands’ Truman Bodden Law School.

After graduating from Coastal Law, Joe was admitted to the Florida bar, where he immediately began a career as a criminal prosecutor, prosecuting dozens of crimes, including 10-20-Life gun crimes.  He gained extensive courtroom trial experience.  Following his time as an Assistant State Attorney, Joe worked in a large, Florida-wide plaintiff’s law firm, covering a wide range of personal injury cases.

Joe then moved his family back to Richmond and recently worked as a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney in Wayne County, again prosecuting a wide range of higher-level felony crimes.

Joe spends his free time with his wife and daughters.  While Joe is admittedly “bookish”, they really bring him out of his comfort zone!  You can catch them enjoying plays at RCT and symphony music, playing golf together, and walking their two dogs, Gypsy (the sweetest Labrador on the planet) and Jack-Jack (a schnauzer puppy, adopted at the HELP shelter).  His limited free time is spent helping the community as well, such as his role as a board member of Wayne County’s Girls, Inc.  Joe’s wife, Hannah, is a mental health counsellor in our community and trying to gain enough experience to figure Joe out as well!

Joe began serving our clients in 2021.  Whether he is assessing your case, advising you on possible causes of action, or negotiating on your behalf, in our law firm Joe will fight for you.  With Joe’s history of fighting in combat or the courtroom, we welcome him and know you will recognize the brilliance in our decision to bring him in to fight for you.

The post Joe Lipps joins BBFCS Attorneys first appeared on BBFCS Law.

The post BBFCS Partner, AJ Sickmann, named to the Super Lawyers Rising Star List first appeared on BBFCS Law.

GREAT JOB FOR EXCEPTIONAL VOLUNTEER INVOLVEMENT!

The post BBFCS & Junior Achievement “Salutes” Adam Forrest, Aubrey Crist & Tami Stevens first appeared on BBFCS Law.

In March of 2019, Ron, along with several other Indiana attorneys, attended the International Municipal Lawyers Associations mid-year four-day conference in Washington, D.C. That event was attended by over three hundred (300) municipal lawyers from across the nation who attended presentations on multiple legal challenges and issues facing municipalities in all states, covering topics including the ability of an agency to regulate cell tower and small communication devices; recent developments in the SEC’s governance of public debt issues; and updates on pertinent state and federal case law developments and US Supreme Court decisions.

If you or your public agency is in need of legal advice or consultation, contact Ron or any of the other BBFCS attorneys who represent municipalities in the greater Wayne County area, including attorneys Bob Bever, Adam Forrest, AJ Sickmann or Walt Chidester.

The post BBFCS Partner, Ron Cross, Steps Down as President of the Indiana Municipal Lawyers Association first appeared on BBFCS Law.

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Robert L. (Bob) Bever is a partner with Boston Bever Klinge Cross & Chidester; is a 1975 graduate of DePauw University with distinction and a 1978 Graduate of Indiana University Law School, Indianapolis, Magna Cum Laude. His practice centers on business and commercial transactions; estate planning and administration; banking and municipal law. Clients include numerous local businesses (being involved in numerous multimillion dollar transactions), banks, civic organizations, and he represents BSN Sports, LLC, nationally in its business acquisitions around the nation. He also served as Richmond City Attorney from 1995 – 2003. Honors include being inducted into the Eastern Indiana Business Hall of Fame in 2016; being inducted into Whos Who in American Law; and is the recipient of the Sagamore of the Wabash, the highest civilian honor bestowed by the Governor of Indiana. He has also served as President of the local Chamber of Commerce and as Chair of the local Republican party.

The post Bob Bever Named into Organization of “Lawyers of Distinction”. first appeared on BBFCS Law.

The post BBFCS Partner Thanked for Over Forty Years of Service to Client first appeared on BBFCS Law.

Rachel E. Sheeley , rsheeley@richmond.gannett.com 5:08 a.m. EST December 11, 2016

Walt Chidester – After 13 years as the City of Richmond’s attorney, Walter “Walt” Chidester is stepping down from the role. His successor, hired at the Dec. 8 at the Board of Works and Public Safety meeting, will be Andrew J. “A.J.” Sickmann. Sickmann will begin his term as city attorney on Jan. 1. Chidester and Sickmann are both members of the Richmond law firm, Boston Bever Klinge Cross & Chidester.

“Walt is sort of an icon figure of city government,” said Mayor Dave Snow. “We have been preparing for this for a while.”

Chidester will remain associated with the city, working with the Sanitary District. He also will continue his private practice. However, Chidester and his wife are planning to spend more time with their grandchildren and to do more traveling. Chidester became city attorney under Democrat Mayor Sally Hutton and served with her during her three terms. When Hutton died in April, Chidester was one of those who eulogized her. Snow, a Democrat who succeeded Hutton, asked Chidester to remain with the city one more year to ease the transition.

“My job has been made easier over the years by being surrounded by good people,” Chidester told the board of works.

Chidester expects the city to be well served by Sickmann. “I’m exited, humbled, to serve the city I care so much about,” Sickmann said. “I will do my absolute level best.”

“I think A.J. is going to do a fantastic job,” Snow said.

Sickman is being hired by the city for a salary not to exceed $43,636, to be paid in monthly installments of $3,636.

A 2004 Richmond High School graduate, Sickmann graduated in 2008 from Ball State University and in 2011 from Valparaiso University School of Law. While attending law school, Sickmann worked as a summer associate for Boston Bever Klinge Cross & Chidester, which he joined after passing the bar exam. Sickmann’s practice primarily includes family, municipal, commercial and criminal law. He has served as attorney for the towns of Milton and Spring Grove, and also as assistant attorney for Wayne County government. He is licensed to practice law in Indiana, and in the U.S. District Court in both the Southern and Northern Districts of Indiana.

Sickmann is the president of the Wayne County Historical Museum board and vice president of the Whitewater Valley Pro Bono Commission. In 2014, Sickmann was honored with the annual Pro Bono Award for handling dozens of pro bono cases throughout the year. He also serves on the board of Communities in Schools for Wayne County.

Chidester is a graduate of Heidelberg College in Tiffin, Ohio, and received his law degree from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. He began his law practice with Legal Services Organization of Indiana Inc. and was the managing attorney of the Whitewater Valley Office of Legal Services. He joined the law firm of Reller, Mendenhall, Kleinknecht & Milligan in 1981 and remained there until the formation of the law firm of Boston Bever Klinge Cross & Chidester in 1998.

In addition to serving as the city attorney since 2004, Chidester was attorney for the Wayne County Welfare Department for 10 years and served as a deputy prosecuting attorney in the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office.

The post City of Richmond to Start 2017 With New Attorney first appeared on BBFCS Law.

BBFCS partner Ron Cross was part of the team of lawyers who successfully defended a national swine producing enterprise in a series of five separate lawsuits that were filed in nearby Randolph County, Indiana.

The suits were brought on behalf of residents located near the sites of several of the facilities alleging that the operations were nuisances due to alleged odors, flies and other such conditions emanating from the farms. The swine producing operations were mostly owned by private Indiana farmers under contract with the national integrator.

The defense team was led by a firm from Washington, D.C., and involved litigation through the trial court and Indiana appellate courts. The several plaintiffs were represented by out of state attorneys who specialize in such litigation and have targeted larger agricultural operations (CAFOs / CFOs) in such law suits. The defendants obtained summary judgment in their favor in each of the five cases. Four of the cases were appealed by the plaintiffs to the Indiana Court of Appeals, but the appeals were withdrawn without an appellate ruling and without any settlement or compromise from the defendants. The litigation affirmed Indiana’s commitment to its agricultural economic base and to the protection of farm operations from claims of nuisance arising from odors and other such conditions that are inherent in most agricultural activities, as stated in Indiana’s Right to Farm Act.

If you have issues involving land use, whether agricultural or otherwise, contact the attorneys at BBFCS to discuss your case.

The post BBFCS Part of Successful Defense Team Protecting Interests of Indiana Farmers first appeared on BBFCS Law.