Marc Lloyd
Fisher Maas Howard Lloyd & Wheeler is a civil defense litigation law firm founded in 1993. For over twenty-five years, we have served as counsel for individuals, small businesses, and large corporations. We have defended cases covering a wide range of issues including complex construction loss, catastrophic injury, environmental tort, insurance coverage, bad faith, motor vehicle accidents, and premises liability. We believe that every case we handle, regardless of complexity, deserves the highest quality of legal services that we can provide.
We understand that often the cases we are asked to handle take a considerable toll on our clients, not only financially, but also in terms of time expenditure and stress. It is our goal to resolve our clients’ cases in the manner most respectful of their needs. We strive to address efficiently our clients’ specific interests and to avoid unnecessary, unproductive activity. We have prepared ourselves to be not only trial lawyers but problem solvers. Our entire firm, from the most senior attorney to the youngest member of our defense staff, understands that our reputation depends upon the quality of our service. We take great pride in being the People You Know with the Experience You Trust.
Because we believe strong professional relationships benefit both us and our clients, we have become members in a number of professional and community organizations. The defense attorneys at Fisher Maas Howard Lloyd & Wheeler play an active role in a number of national, regional, and local defense organizations, from which they gain the most current information relevant to the practice of law and develop strong working relationships with attorneys throughout Indiana and the United States. We are members of the National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms (NAMWOLF), Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), Claims and Litigation Management Alliance (CLM), and the national, state and local bar associations.
We started as Smith and Bemenderfer in 1993 in an office overlooking a fish pond. Our clients fished there during mediations. We were not the usual law firm then and 25 plus years later, we are still not the usual law firm. You may even think we can be fun when we are not suited up and aggressively litigating your case.
The practice of law is intense and often exhausting. We take our practice very seriously. We do our best, however, not to confuse what we do with who we are. So, for over twenty-five years, we have done all we can to establish “human” connections with our attorneys, our staff and our clients. You will not find artificial formality at Fisher Maas Howard Lloyd & Wheeler. We have rejected form over substance. We have built a family within our law firm and friends among our clients. And, along with friends and family, come traditions.
The Firm traditions we have started help balance our serious practice of law with our equally important quality of life. So, while other firms had traditional Christmas Open Houses, we decided to leave that time to families and we elected to celebrate another and somewhat deserving holiday – Groundhog Day. What else is there to do in February other than have a Groundhog Day party? We have turned our offices into a casino to raise money for charity, and brought in psychics, balloon artists, a photo booth, and even a caricature artist. The Groundhog Party was one of our first Firm traditions.
There have, of course, been many more. In 1998, we did away with staff Christmas dinners at stuffy restaurants and booked a Firm Trip to the Bahamas for the day. We have now had 21 Firm Trips and counting. What started as a one day excursion has grown to three day weekends. We have been to New Orleans, New York, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Washington DC, Miami, Portland Maine, Disney World and more. When we started these trips, several people on our staff had never flown, had never seen the ocean and had never eaten a beignet. It has been great fun sharing the country with the people we work with every day.
The Firm trip is no longer a Christmas event…we now go at different times of the year. So of course, we needed to create a new tradition for Christmas. This tradition has developed into a great day of sharing among our attorneys and staff. The attorneys now make Christmas dinner every year for the staff (Becky’s macaroni salad is legend). We spend the last work day before the Christmas holiday eating, holding an extremely cutthroat gift exchange and playing Reindeer Games for fabulous prizes and a trophy taller than Marc Lloyd. During the rest of the year when we need to unwind, we do group cooking classes, glass blowing, oil painting and more…the talent level is questionable but the effort is unequalled.
So, where we come from is a place of pride, family and hard work. If you know us, you know that we take our work seriously, but you will also know that we do our best to enjoy life. We believe that building and maintaining relationships with clients, with our work family, with the legal community and with our social communities is the significant part of our success.
What we believe…
Experience
Throughout its history, Fisher Maas Howard Lloyd & Wheeler has been, and remains until this day, a defense litigation law firm. The Firm has represented its clients on a wide spectrum of issues for more than twenty-five years. At the present time, insurance (including coverage, bad faith, defense and fraud), construction liability and defect, worker’s compensation, premises liability, environmental and toxic tort and trucking matters comprise the bulk of our practice.
A number of our attorneys also have considerable experience in other areas of the law such as catastrophic injury, property damage, wrongful death and commercial collections, for example. If you require a defense attorney in a specific area, we will connect you with the attorney in the Firm most experienced in your specific need.
Personal Attention
Fisher Maas Howard Lloyd & Wheeler is a member of The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), the National Association of Minority and Women-Owned Law Firms (NAMWOLF), and the Claims and Litigation Management Alliance (CLM). The Firm is also listed in Best’s Directories of Recommended Insurance Attorneys based upon client recommendation and A.M. Best certification. Several of the Firm’s members are practicing mediators.
Certification
The Firm has been certified as a Women’s Business Enterprise. The Firm was one of the first members of the National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms (NAMWOLF) and has remained active every year in that organization. We are also a proud member of WBENC and CLM.
Several of the Firm’s attorneys are AV rated through Martindale Hubbell and the Firm has been awarded the highest award by its clients in AM Best. The Firm’s Motto is “People You Know, Experience You Trust.” We make it a priority to not only know your case but to adapt the defense of your case to your specific needs. We will address your expectations regarding your case and what you hope to achieve. We will work with you to reach those goals. You will find that everyone at Fisher Maas Howard Lloyd & Wheeler, both attorneys and staff alike, will be happy to assist you in every way possible.
