Sorling Northrup Attorneys

Who the firm works with and where it sits

Sorling Northrup runs its practice from downtown Springfield, Illinois. The office is on the second floor of the PNC Bank building, close to the courts, the state agencies, the State Capitol, and the Governor's Mansion. That location matters for the work the firm names, because much of it touches state government and regulated industry. A lawyer who can walk to a hearing keeps travel time out of the client's bill.

The firm represents three groups: businesses, individuals, and governmental organizations. That mix is wider than many small-city firms carry. The same office can handle a company contract in the morning and a family matter in the afternoon. In my opinion, a client base that spans private clients and public bodies points to a firm comfortable across several kinds of matter.

What the published practice areas cover

Sorling Northrup publishes one of the wider practice lists you find at a firm this size. On the business side it names banking, business advising, contract preparation, commercial litigation, securities, and employee benefits. The firm also lists taxation and bankruptcy, which fit an office that advises companies across the length of their operations. Contract preparation and business advising tend to feed the transactional and litigation work, so a company that starts with an agreement can stay with the same firm if that agreement later goes to court.

Land and property work runs through several listed areas: real estate, zoning, and oil, gas and minerals. Energy law and environmental law appear too, and both connect to state permitting in Illinois. Estate planning, probate and trust administration, and trusts cover the work that individuals and families bring in.

The firm lists areas tied to public life as well. Elections and campaign law, government affairs, and municipal law all appear, along with administrative law and professional licensure and disciplinary defense. Administrative law in Illinois often means practice before state agencies and licensing boards, which connects to the government work the firm does near the Capitol. Personal injury, insurance, workers compensation, family law, immigration, intellectual property, labor and employment, health law, appeals, and mediation complete the published set.

How the team is built

The attorney directory names 23 lawyers. The titles across the individual profiles include shareholder, associate, and Of Counsel, which points to a conventional structure with owners, salaried lawyers, and senior counsel who have eased back from full partnership. A firm that keeps all three tiers can move a matter to the right level of seniority and cost. The site does not list a founding year.

The named shareholders include Michelle L. Blackburn, James G. Fahey, Michael G. Horstman Jr., and John A. Kauerauf. Aaron D. Evans holds an associate title, and C. Clark Germann is Of Counsel. Other lawyers in the directory include Andrew T. Jarmer, Kirk W. Laudeman, Brian D. Lee, Jeremy E. McAfee, Brian D. Jones, and Stephen F. Hedinger.

Backgrounds and focus among named attorneys

The individual profiles give some detail on training and focus. John A. Kauerauf earned a B.A. in accounting from Illinois Wesleyan University in 1983 and a J.D. from the University of Illinois College of Law in 1986, the year he joined the firm. His work centers on employment law and business law, with a concentration in health care, religious, and not-for-profit clients.

Michelle L. Blackburn holds a bachelor's degree from Eastern Illinois University and a J.D. from John Marshall Law School. Her practice covers family law, immigration, estate planning, and litigation, which lines up with several of the firm's listed areas. James G. Fahey studied at Benedictine University and St. Louis University School of Law, and he handles commercial real estate, intellectual property, labor and employment, appellate matters, and civil trials.

Michael G. Horstman Jr. trained at the University of Illinois and Washington University School of Law, and his work runs to corporate matters, securities offerings, real estate, and mergers and acquisitions, with estate planning and probate alongside. Aaron D. Evans, an associate, studied at the University of Illinois and Florida Coastal School of Law, and his practice covers business and corporate law, trusts and estates, real estate, and tax. C. Clark Germann, who is Of Counsel, holds degrees from Springfield College, Illinois College, and the University of Illinois, and works in corporate, real estate, and oil and gas law.

Brian D. Jones is a business lawyer with a J.D., an M.B.A., and an undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois, and he works in business, commercial real estate, health care, and real estate. Stephen F. Hedinger, a 1988 graduate of Southern Illinois University School of Law, concentrates on environmental and administrative law. Across these profiles the University of Illinois shows up often, and the collective lean runs toward business, real estate, and regulatory work.

What the listed practice areas involve

Family law and immigration both appear on the firm's list, and each follows its own track. Family law cases in Illinois move through the county circuit court, where a contested divorce or custody dispute can run through temporary orders, financial disclosure, and, in some cases, a guardian ad litem before a judge rules. A firm that also does estate planning can carry a client from that stage into new wills and trusts inside one office.

Immigration work sits mostly in federal channels. Applications and petitions go to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, while removal cases are heard in immigration court under the Department of Justice. Business petitions and family petitions each carry their own forms and timelines, and a general practice firm that lists immigration usually pairs it with the employment or family work that brings clients in.

The real estate and intellectual property listings point to two more tracks. Real estate here covers commercial deals, zoning questions, and, given the oil, gas and minerals listing, land and mineral rights that come up across central Illinois. Zoning matters generally go before municipal boards and can involve variance or rezoning requests, which ties back to the firm's municipal law work. Intellectual property covers the registration and protection of trademarks and copyrights, work that Fahey's profile names directly.

Reading the firm's own material

Two things are clear from what the firm publishes. The first is breadth: a directory of 23 lawyers and a practice list of more than thirty areas gives a client in central Illinois a single office for business, property, family, and regulatory needs. The second is tenure, since several profiles show lawyers who finished law school more than twenty years ago and hold concentrations in health care, employment, corporate, and environmental work. That combination of a broad menu and long-serving lawyers is the pattern of a firm that grew by adding practice areas over time.

As a reviewer, I read the University of Illinois pattern in the attorney backgrounds as a sign that the firm recruits close to home and keeps people. John A. Kauerauf joined in 1986 and still appears in the directory. The office near the Capitol and the courts fits the government and administrative work the firm lists. The directory names 23 attorneys, and their published backgrounds concentrate in Illinois law schools and in business, real estate, and regulatory practice.