Lane Siesky – Attorney at Law
I always tell clients that nobody can tell their story better than them. They’ve lived it. This is my story.
I was born in Evansville in 1972 to Charles and Jan Siesky. My dad grew up in Pennsylvania (this is why our family are Pittsburgh Steeler fans) until moving to the Evansville area where he attended Bosse High School. My Dad was a track star and ran in college for Indiana University. His Dad and my Grandfather, Roy, also ran track in college for Penn St. University. After graduating, my Dad taught and coached track at Harrison High School for almost 40 years.
My Mother attended the University of Evansville and then was a teacher but quit to stay home and raise my brother, Brent, and I. She later sold Mary Kay cosmetics and did very well. In fact, I grew up riding around in a pink Cadillac.
As a kid, I also ran track and played basketball. I was not the athlete my dad was and never probably reached my potential in track. However, I ran for my dad in high school and our teams did very well.
My true love was basketball. I grew up watching Bobby Knight and rooting for the Hoosiers. So, I constantly played basketball in church league, the neighborhood, the gym or wherever. When I reached high school, I played basketball for Harrison but on the team were once-in-a generation athletes – Calbert Cheaney, Walter McCarty, Kevin Hardy, Brent Kell, Chris Lowery, etc. Therefore, I was pretty much a practice player for the varsity team with a front row seat for the games. Although not the high school basketball career I had envisioned, I learned a great deal from that experience.
Indeed, I learned that even though God had not gifted me the same way he did those athletes, I was a good student and very competitive. I therefore focused on school and was near the top of my high school class. When I began looking at colleges, I applied to the Air Force Academy. However, as time went on I decided to attend Indiana University with my friends.
At Indiana, I joined Sigma Nu fraternity and majored in Biology and minored in Psychology. When it came to decide what to do after undergrad, my Mother reminded me that I like to argue (lol) and suggested law school. And so, I ended up attending law school at Indiana University and graduated in in 1998. At that time, if you graduated with a law degree finding a job was not difficult and I decided to come back to Evansville and try litigation.
Not long after graduating, I was trying jury trials for Allstate Insurance company. The lessons I learned from my Dad and Mother and from sports helped practicing law. Specifically, I knew about hard work, competitiveness, dedication, working as part of a team, about winning and losing. As I gained experience in law, I transitioned to a Plaintiff’s practice and opened Siesky Law Firm in 2006.
I met my wife, Andra, in 1999 at a local gym. She and I got engaged and married in 2000. Andra is definitely my better half. She is a teacher with the EVSC. Andra has supported me through the highs and lows. I try to remember to tell her often she is the best Wife and Mother – ever. We have three children – Adelyn, Keaton and Kinley. As a family, we like to travel and the kids are all heavily involved in soccer. Outside of work, the kids are our focus.
Dan Gearhart – Attorney at Law
I was born and raised on the east side of Evansville in 1975. My dad was a systems specialist at Mead Johnson/Bristol Myers and my mom stayed at home until my sister and I were in grade school. She then was a school secretary at Evansville Christian School. I am the third of four children (2 older brothers and one younger sister). I attended Dexter Elementary until fourth grade when I transferred to Evansville Christian School where I received the remainder of my elementary education. I then attended Reitz Memorial High School where I graduated in 1993. I grew up attending Christian Fellowship Church, watching IU basketball, watching Don Mattingly play for the New York Yankees, and running around with neighborhood and school friends. My mom loved watching boxing, so we often hosted “watch parties” to see all the biggest fights.
In the fall of 1993, I attended Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. My sophomore year I was accepted into the Indiana University Kelley School of Business Honors Division. I graduated in 1997 from I.U. and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance. Although, I was interested in going to law school immediately after undergraduate school, I decided to take a job in Indianapolis, Indiana as a financial planner with John Hancock Financial Services. However, after approximately a year and a half, I decided that my gifts and talents would best be utilized by moving forward with obtaining a law degree. I moved from Indianapolis back to Evansville where I lived with my parents while preparing to take the LSAT test and applying to law schools. I worked at American General Finance in the interim to save up for law school. I also got married two months before starting my legal career at Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law in Indianapolis. I achieved my law degree and passed the Indiana Bar Exam in 2003.
While I considered working for a law firm in Indianapolis, we decided to move back to Evansville because that is where our families were located, and we knew it was a good place to raise a family. I was offered a position at a medium-sized firm in Evansville. I received a lot of experience in defending businesses/employers in labor and employment, worker’s compensation, and wage claims. I also represented individuals and businesses in lawsuits involving automobile accidents, environmental remediation, breach of contract, and family law (including divorce, child custody, guardianships, etc.) One of my favorite areas of the law was medical malpractice cases. While the circumstances were usually quite serious, I loved getting to learn the medical aspects of each case and apply that knowledge along with my legal experience to help my clients.
In 2009, the best thing that has ever happened to me occurred when my daughter was born. While she certainly changed my life, it has certainly been for the better. She has a terrific sense of humor and is soft-hearted. She makes friends easily, loves science fiction like her daddy, and she cannot get enough chips, salsa, and queso dip from her favorite Mexican restaurant!
Eventually, in 2013, I made the difficult decision to move from Evansville back to Indianapolis, where I took a position at a law firm that concentrated almost entirely on medical malpractice cases. I worked on hundreds of cases involving surgery, radiology, cardiology/electrophysiology, neurology, neurosurgery, OB/GYN, family medicine, chiropractic, and dentistry.
I worked in Indianapolis until 2017. After going through a divorce that year, I was at a bit of a crossroads. My daughter moved from Indianapolis to Evansville with her mom. So, at the end of 2017, I moved back to Evansville – hopefully for the last time – so that I could be close to my daughter. It was the best decision because I get to see her, be active with homework/school, attend her extra-curricular activities, and just be a dad!
Professionally, I also made a change in 2017. After being a defense attorney for fourteen years, I accepted a position at Siesky Law Firm, P.C., where I have worked on many types of cases, but mainly as a plaintiff’s attorney. I had known Lane (Siesky) from my years practicing in Evansville previously, and I always respected how he handled cases in a tenacious but professional and trustworthy way even though I had always been on the other side. Those are the values that I hold as an attorney and so it has been a great fit for me.
I continue to be excited for the opportunity to help people with problems for which my experience had prepared me. Since 2018, I have worked on hundreds of cases, including motor vehicle accident, wrongful death, medical malpractice, small business, and employment law cases. I truly enjoy getting to know our clients and working hard to get them the best result we possibly can. As I am now back in Evansville, achieving our clients’ goals also makes our community a better place to work and live!
Doug Briody – Attorney at Law, Of Counsel
To say that Doug Briody is a native of the area is to put it mildly. While Doug and both of his parents were born in Evansville, his family’s roots in Warrick County go back to just after the Civil War and in Posey County to before Indiana even became a state.
Doug grew up on the northeast side of Evansville and attended Vogel Elementary School, where, in the 6th and 7th grades, he won back-to-back school spelling bee titles and placed third in the county-wide event both years. He went on to North High School, where he played trombone in the marching band and jazz band, participated in speech and debate, student government, and North’s celebrated drama program, and graduated at the top of his class. As a boy, he competed in nearly every youth sport offered in the area, including baseball, basketball, football, soccer, tennis, bowling, and hockey.
Doug went to college at Harvard University, where he studied Government and graduated with honors, while continuing to take part in a wide range of extracurriculars, including music and drama, intramural athletics, and campus political activities. After four years on the east coast, he returned to Indiana to obtain his law degree from the Indiana University School of Law at Bloomington. There, he served as an editor of the Indiana Law Journal and as president of the school’s largest law fraternity and took advantage of as many of the campus’ and city’s athletic and cultural events as he could.
In 1994, Doug returned to Evansville and joined one of the city’s largest law firms, where he handled a wide variety of complex litigation and business matters. The year 2000 was an eventual one, as Doug helped launch both a new law firm and a new family. Doug and his wife, Sandra, were married just a month after the doors opened on a new kind of personal injury law firm for Evansville, focused almost exclusively on litigating medical malpractice and other catastrophic death and injury cases. Doug remained with that firm until 2008, when he went solo and opened the Law Office of Doug Briody. In his solo practice, which remains his primary legal venture, Doug handles mainly matters involving business law; wills, trusts, estate and Medicaid planning, and probate administration; commercial and civil litigation; non-profit organizations; and governmental and administrative law.
Doug has maintained an Of Counsel relationship with Siesky Law Firm, PC, since 2016. Here, his work centers primarily on the firm’s personal injury and wrongful death matters, while also serving the business and estate planning needs of the firm’s clients. He has also served as the attorney for the Vanderburgh County Election Board since 2005.
Doug and Sandra have two children, a son and a daughter, both living in Evansville. Doug is a past president of the Evansville Bar Association, and serves or has served on the boards of a number of non-profit organizations, including Community One, Inc., the Evansville-Area Trails Association, Inc., and Startup Weekend Evansville, all of which he helped found. His hobbies include bicycling, hiking, and paddle sports, as well as cooking, reading, and travel.
Rod Clutter – Attorney at Law, Of Counsel
While I was born here in Evansville, I grew up as an “Air Force brat” – meaning I lived in many places throughout the country during my father’s distinguished military career. I recall that my mother estimated that we lived in at least 20 different homes by the time I graduated from high school in 1971. That year, my father received an assignment to Hawaii, so I went to college at the University of Evansville where the rest of my family could “keep an eye on me.” I majored in Social Studies intending to coach high school basketball and teach history. However, as my senior year approached, I began to consider law school. In what would be the first of several “fork in the road” decisions in my life, I entered law school in 1975 at the Bloomington campus of Indiana University where I graduated in 1978.
While in law school, I considered becoming a military lawyer and, in 1980, I joined the Air Force. My first assignment was to Hurlburt Field, Florida, which was then headquarters for Air Force Special Operations. Among my first duties was providing legal assistance to widows from the failed Iranian hostage rescue attempt. My next assignment was to Osan Air Base in Korea where I primarily tried criminal cases involving blackmarketing. Another memory of my tour was serving as the on-scene representative of the Air Force near the DMZ where a hijacked Chinese airliner had landed. My most special memory, though, was my daughter’s birth at the 121st EVAC Hospital in Seoul; which many may remember from the TV show: M*A*S*H.
I left the Air Force in 1986 to come home to Evansville where I eventually became a partner at the law firm of Bamberger, Foreman, Oswald & Hahn. My primary responsibilities were representing defendants in personal injury cases and employers in employment law claims. I also became an adjunct professor at the University of Evansville teaching business law. During my 17 years at BFO&H, I had two more children: both sons.
In 2002, I made another fork-in-the road decision and decided to run for Judge in Warrick County. I lost in an extremely close vote. This loss, while painful at the time, led to another career change when I joined the law firm of Woods & Woods in 2004 as a personal injury attorney. I also became a mediator which involved helping other lawyers settle their own personal injury and business dispute cases.
I enjoyed my time at Woods & Woods, but in 2016, they decided to get out of the personal injury business. As a result, I opened my own solo-practice injury firm here in Evansville which I recently closed to accept this wonderful opportunity to join the Siesky Law Firm on an of-counsel basis. Here, I hope to further develop my mediation practice and continue to serve injured persons who contact me.
I can’t finish my story without mentioning my wife, Audria, and the rest of my family. Audria was my paralegal, and the first day she worked for me was 9/11. Obviously that day will always be remembered. We married in 2004 and we have worked together every day since – and we are still speaking to each other! Between us, we have five children and five grandchildren. We enjoy travelling and, of course, taking care of our grandkids.
Audria and I look forward to becoming part of Siesky Law Firm family – and to see where the next fork-in- the-road takes us.
Heidi Munselle
– Office Manager and Paralegal
I was born and raised in Fairfield, which is a small town in Southern Illinois. My parents are, Richard and Mary Hase. My dad owned his own business, Hase Interiors, but is now retired. My mom is a medical billing and coding specialists at Fairfield Community Health. I have a half-sister, Heather, and two brothers, Justin and Jonathan. Growing up I played softball, cheered, played the clarinet, was a flag girl, and ran track. We are a very tight-knit family so we are always spending time together, whether that be, spending every holiday together, cookouts, weekend camping trips or vacationing together.
I started school at just four years old and attended North Side Elementary, Center Street Grade School and Fairfield Community High School. After high school I attended Frontier Community College for one year. I started working at Airtex as a timekeeper in 1997 but made the decision to be a stay-at-home mom from 1999-2011. From 2011 – 2019 I worked in the coal mine staffing industry. With this job, I had all the responsibilities of a human resource manager. In 2019, I decided it was time to move on from the staffing industry and completely change my career path. I saw an ad for an office manager position at Siesky Law Firm so I decided to apply. I have been with Siesky Law Firm since April 2019 and couldn’t ask for a better place to work. Lane has great values in place for our law firm and I love how our firm is very client and community focused.
I am a lucky mother to my three amazing children, Bryce, Ethyn and Jordyn. Bryce is a 2019 North High School graduate; Ethyn is a 2022 North High School graduate and Jordyn attends Mater Dei High School. When I’m not working, I enjoy spending time with family and friends, boating, camping, having cookouts, bon fires, playing corn hole, kayaking, riding four wheelers and side by sides, going to concerts, attending baseball, hockey and football games, but most of all, traveling.
Taylor Thomas – Medical Paralegal
I was born in Bloomington, Illinois and was the first born child to a firefighter (John) and a teacher (Tina). After five years of infertility and three miscarriages, my parents were finally blessed with me and my younger brother (Clayton, 19) and younger sister (Corinna, 14). I started school at just three years old and attended Mulberry Pre-School, Fox Creek Elementary, Parkside Junior High, and Normal Community West High School. Neither of my parents got the chance to be involved in many activities as kids, so they made it a priority to give us as many opportunities as they could.
Having grown up with a mom who was a teacher, education was always important to me. In addition to stressing the importance of academics, my mom worked hard to expose us to various extracurricular activities.. I did swim and dance from age three to thirteen and went on to try a variety of other sports including basketball, volleyball, cross country, track, and diving. Music became a significant part of my life and at three years old, I began violin lessons. I then took lessons on piano, oboe, and finally flute. Outside of musical instruments, I was also involved in various church choirs from preschool all the way through high school. During elementary school and junior high I also developed a passion for art and creative writing. I wrote and illustrated several books and loved drawing and painting.
Starting at age 9, I got involved with McLean County 4-H and was a member of the Ardent Tillers 4-H Club. My ten years in 4-H helped me to become more well-rounded through projects in the areas of leadership, communications, public speaking, child development, intercultural studies, cooking, cake decorating, sewing, fashion, modeling, sketching, painting, cartooning, ceramics, scrapbooking, and many others. I was also involved with the Miller Park Zoo’s junior zookeeper volunteer program and volunteered at the zoo from fifth grade through senior year. As a junior zookeeper, I had the opportunity to interact with zoo visitors, handle animals, create enrichment items for the animals, put on informative animal shows, narrate the daily seal trainings, assist younger JZKs, and go on an ecotourism trip to Costa Rica. Throughout high school, I continued with 4-H and junior zoo keepers and participated in swim, diving, color guard, band, and church. My band got the opportunity to play in the Social Life Marketing Opera House in Australia and I went on various mission trips and choir tours with my church.
After having visited Australia and Costa Rica in high school, traveling became a passion of mine. In the spring of 2019, I spent a semester abroad at Harlaxton College in Grantham, England and I was able to visit 14 countries including, England, Scotland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Sweden, Iceland, Spain, France, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Italy, Morocco, and the Netherlands. This semester expanded my global view and exposed me to people of all types of cultural backgrounds. In December of 2019, my family travelled on a cruise to visit the Cayman Islands, Honduras, Belize, and Mexico. My love of travelling inspired me to get a world map tattoo on my back and my goal is to eventually visit every continent.
Though I have always been academically driven, I didn’t settle on a career path till later in my high school years. When my dad was diagnosed with cancer during my freshman year of high school and had to have his entire leg amputated, I saw just how much of an impact healthcare providers can have in the lives of those who are battling physical, mental, and emotional challenges. I’ve always had a serving heart and wanted to be able to impact patients in the same way that some of my dad’s providers impacted him. I chose to pursue healthcare by becoming a physician assistant and was drawn to the ability to switch specialties, have more time with patients, and have a healthy work-life balance.
Prior to my dad’s diagnosis with cancer, he had been seen by a city doctor who claimed that he was a malingerer and said his pain was not authentic. Having seen how much pain my dad was in at home as he struggled to limp around the house, I was furiated by the accusation that my dad, who adored his job as a firefighter, was faking such excruciating pain. After his cancer diagnosis and amputation, my dad got a lawyer to hold this doctor accountable for failing to acknowledge the severity of his pain and not finding the cancer sooner. While I believe that 99% of healthcare providers have the best intentions, this doctor’s skepticism of my dad’s pain led me to also develop a passion for the legal side of medicine and the standard of care that patients should receive in their most vulnerable moments.
During high school I volunteered in the Emergency Room and the Acute Rehabilitation wards and went on to work as a research intern at Illinois CancerCare for two summers. When it came time to choose a college, I was drawn to the University of Evansville because not only did they offer a direct admittance path to their physician assistant program, but it was also evident that they fostered a family-like culture based in collaboration. During my freshman year of college, my dad went downhill fast. Though I had prepared myself for the possibility of the cancer taking him from me, his decline seemed even more rapid since campus was four hours away from home. The months following his death were the most difficult of my life and my resilience was stretched to a new level. I was determined to press on towards my goal of becoming a physician assistant and I used my grief as the driving source of my academics. The pain of my dad’s death motivated me to do whatever I could to make sure that I would become a physician assistant and could help make sure that other families received earlier diagnoses and didn’t have to suffer the hole in their hearts like I did.
I dealt with the loss of my dad by leaning on the relationships with my family and friends and staying focused on my classes and extracurriculars. Throughout college I have played flute in the University band, sang as a praise band vocalist for Methodist Temple, participated in the catalysts for change group, served as president of UE’s College Mentors For Kids program, and am currently a big sister for the Big Brothers Big Sisters program and the president of the Pre-Physician Assistant Club for undergraduate students. I have also worked as an academic coach and am now a teaching assistant for a research methods class for psychology students.
I was eager to get a job in the medical field to gain experience before becoming a physician assistant, but given the contact restrictions of COVID-19, I was unable to get hired on as a patient care tech at one of the Evansville hospitals. I then turned my attention to looking for a job with a personal injury law firm. My part-time position with Siesky Law Firm has allowed me to gain knowledge about the medical field through settlement demands and reviewing medical records, while also teaching me a great deal about the legal field by exposing me to complaints, discoveries, investigation, expert reports, mediations, and depositions. Siesky Law Firm’s client-focused practices and desire to serve as advocates for community members models the kind of dedication I hope to always give to those in my care. Whether I remain a physician assistant for the entirety of my career or go on to pursue law or a doctoral degree, I am confident that working for the firm is allowing me to grow and serve the community.
This December, I will be graduating with honors with a major in Psychology and a minor in Biology. I will be continuing at UE and will begin the physician assistant masters’ program in January of 2021. I currently live in downtown Evansville with my boyfriend, Grant, and our two-year-old lab, Rosemary. As I move on to graduate school in January, I hope to continue to serve the Evansville community both through patient care and legal work.
Megan Higgins – Director of Outreach & Legal Assistant
Megan Higgins joined Siesky Law Firm, PC as a Legal Assistant. Her background includes 10 years in Sales and 8 years in Medical Office Management and she holds an Associate Degree from Ivy Tech Community College in Healthcare Support which she attained in 2016 at the top of her class. Ivy Tech recognized Megan as the Star Student at the 2016 Ivy Tech Gala which was awarded based on a nomination by her Program Mentor. This award is given to 1 outstanding student every year that goes above and beyond in their program. Megan credits her success on the values she was taught growing up on a farm and her drive to succeed for her family.
Megan brings to our team a warm and effervescent personality mixed with a tenacious work ethic and as a passion for meeting and building relationships with our clients. Her background in sales has helped develop her ability to talk to people and build lasting relationships while still working hard to help them reach their highest potential. When not in the office, Megan enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, practicing yoga, and volunteering in the community. She currently holds the title of Secretary Board Member for EJFL (Evansville Junior Football League) and Board Member and Fundraising Committee Member for GOTR (Girls on the Run – SW Indiana) where she loves to volunteer her time to make these two youth programs the best it can be for Evansville.