Plews Shadley Racher & Braun LLP

What Plews Shadley Racher & Braun LLP does

Plews Shadley Racher & Braun LLP (PSRB) is an Indiana-based law firm founded in 1988 as an environmental boutique and now operating across five core practice areas: Business, Environmental, Insurance Coverage, Litigation, and Real Estate. The firm serves 12 industry verticals, with primary focus on Manufacturing, Energy & Utilities, Petroleum Marketers, Municipalities & Government, Health Care & Life Sciences, and Real Estate Development & Construction. Its Insurance Coverage practice operates nationally and is described as one of the largest policyholder-side coverage practices in the Midwest, with a track record of recovering hundreds of millions of dollars for clients under liability, property, D&O, E&O, and other policy types.

PSRB operates from two Indiana offices (Indianapolis headquarters at 1346 N. Delaware St. in a four-building historic campus, and South Bend at 1017 E. Jefferson Blvd.) and is organized as a limited liability partnership owned by its attorneys. The firm is led by Managing Partner Thao T. Nguyen (elected December 2025) and maintains a roster of approximately 20+ partners, associates, and counsel. Its client roster includes Eli Lilly, USA Gymnastics, State of Indiana, Technicolor, Jay Petroleum, and City of South Bend, spanning pharmaceutical, sports, government, technology, petroleum, and municipal sectors.

The firm's revenue model is traditional professional services billing, primarily hourly, with alternative fee arrangements (contingent, blended, or flat fee) offered when appropriate. Business development relies on attorney referrals, Chambers USA and Best Lawyers rankings (Band 1 in Indiana Environmental and Insurance Law for 2025-2026), industry events, and thought leadership content. Notable recent strategic moves include managing partner succession (Sylvia to Nguyen within 12 months), two partner admissions (Kozak 2025, Steinbrueck 2026), and continuous associate hiring through 2024-2026.

Name

Plews Shadley Racher & Braun LLP

Legal name

Plews Shadley Racher & Braun LLP

Website

https://psrb.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1988

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Indiana-based law firm founded in 1988 offering environmental, insurance coverage, business, litigation, and real estate legal services across 12 industry verticals, with offices in Indianapolis and South Bend and a nationally recognized policyholder insurance coverage practice.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Legal Services

NAICS

Offices of Lawyers (541110), Legal Services (5411)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Real Estate & Construction Law (BPAHAAAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Professional Liability (E&O) (FSAJAGAC), Management Liability (D&O/EPL/Fiduciary) (FSAJAGAD), Professional Umbrella / Excess (E&O/D&O Wrap) (FSAJANAH), Family & Private Client (Trusts & Estates) Law (BPAHAAAK)

Keywords

• Legal services
• Environmental law
• Insurance coverage
• Business litigation
• Real estate law

Headquarters

HQ city

Indianapolis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Legal Services - Hourly Billing: Traditional law firm billing model based on hourly rates for attorneys and paralegals providing legal services across all practice areas including environmental, insurance coverage, litigation, business, and real estate.
2. Alternative Fee Arrangements: Alternative fee structures including contingent fee arrangements, blended rates, and flat fee arrangements when financially appropriate for clients, particularly in insurance recovery and litigation matters.
3. Insurance Recovery: Recovery of hundreds of millions of dollars for clients under various insurance policies including liability, first-party property, builders risk, D&O, E&O, health, disability and life insurance. Fee arrangements may be contingency-based in some matters.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Plews Shadley Racher & Braun LLP is a full-service law firm providing legal representation across five core practice areas: Business (entity formation, contracts, employment, IP, financing, transactions, estate planning, disputes, risk management), Environmental (administrative law, audits, brownfield redevelopment, compliance, cost recovery, due diligence, permitting), Insurance Coverage (bad faith, CGL, D&O, E&O, first party property, health, life, subrogation), Litigation (ADR, appeals, business litigation, class actions, toxic tort, insurance recovery, medical malpractice, products liability), and Real Estate (acquisition/sales, leasing, finance, zoning). The firm serves clients across 12 industry sectors including manufacturing, energy & utilities, petroleum marketers, municipalities, healthcare, technology, agribusiness, and others from offices in Indianapolis and South Bend, Indiana.

Product overview

Plews Shadley Racher & Braun LLP is a law firm offering legal services organized by five core practice areas: Business (including entity formation, contracts, employment law, intellectual property, financing, transactions, estate planning, business disputes, and risk management), Environmental (including administrative law, audits, brownfield redevelopment, compliance, cost recovery, due diligence, lobbying, permitting, and property transactions), Insurance Coverage (including bad faith, broker/agent, commercial general liability, coverage analysis, D&O, disability, environmental litigation, E&O, fidelity, first party property, health, life, and subrogation), Litigation (including alternative dispute resolution, appeals, bodily injury, business litigation, class actions, environmental toxic tort, insurance recovery, medical malpractice, products liability, and real estate/construction), and Real Estate (including acquisition/sales, brownfields, development permitting, due diligence, environmental due diligence, leasing, finance, property taxes, and zoning/land use). The firm serves 12 industry sectors: Agribusiness, Education & Schools, Energy & Utilities, Health Care & Life Sciences, Individuals & Closely Held Businesses, Manufacturing, Municipalities & Government, Nonprofit & Religious Organizations, Petroleum Marketers, Real Estate Development & Construction, Technology, and Waste Services. The firm operates offices in Indianapolis and South Bend, Indiana. The firm was founded in 1988 as an environmental boutique and has grown to include one of the largest policyholder insurance coverage practices in the Midwest.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Business Law Practice Full-service business legal representation covering entity formation and governance, contracts, employment law, intellectual property, financing, transactions, estate planning and administration, business disputes, and risk management. Designed for business owners, operators, and closely held businesses needing day-to-day and strategic legal counsel.
• Environmental Law Practice Comprehensive environmental legal services including administrative law and litigation, audits, brownfield redevelopment, compliance and enforcement, cost recovery and insurance coverage, environmental due diligence, lobbying and rulemaking, permitting, and property transactions. Serves heavily regulated industries including manufacturing, energy, petroleum marketers, and waste services.
• Insurance Coverage Practice Policyholder-side insurance coverage representation covering bad faith claims, broker/agent disputes, commercial general liability, coverage and program analysis, directors & officers (D&O), disability, environmental litigation, errors & omissions (E&O), fidelity & theft, first party property, health and long-term care, life insurance, and subrogation. National scope serving Fortune 500 companies and large policyholders.
• Litigation Practice Complex litigation services including alternative dispute resolution (ADR), appeals, business litigation, class actions, environmental and toxic tort, insurance recovery, medical malpractice, bodily injury and wrongful death, products liability, and real estate and construction litigation. Focused on optimizing outcomes in high-stakes disputes.
• Real Estate Practice

Quantifiable outcome

• Recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for clients in insurance recovery matters
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments12 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Indiana Food & Fuel Association (IFFA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPSRB serves as general counsel for the Indiana Food & Fuel Association (IFFA), providing comprehensive legal representation for the petroleum marketers industry. This partnership allows PSRB to provide full-service legal representation across all regulatory, transactional, litigation, and legislative forums for IFFA members.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP: Midwest-based firm with comparable environmental, business, real estate and litigation practices serving manufacturing, energy and government clients across Indiana and Ohio.
• Krieg DeVault LLP: Indiana-based firm with overlapping environmental, real estate, business and insurance-related practices serving Midwest enterprises, municipalities and closely held businesses.
• Bose McKinney & Evans LLP: Indianapolis-based firm with a similar full-service Midwest platform including environmental, business, real estate and litigation work, directly comparable in scale and Indiana market positioning.
• Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP: Midwest-based full-service firm with environmental, insurance coverage, real estate and litigation practices serving corporate and municipal clients across overlapping geographies.
• Anderson Kill P.C. National policyholder-side insurance coverage firm with comparable focus on representing policyholders in coverage disputes and recovery matters, often against the same insurers PSRB faces.
• Ice Miller LLP: Indianapolis-headquartered full-service firm with comparable size and overlapping environmental, insurance, litigation, business and real estate practices serving Midwest clients. Closest peer by geography and practice mix.
• Beveridge & Diamond P.C. National boutique focused on environmental law with overlapping brownfield redevelopment, compliance, cost recovery and litigation work targeting Fortune 500 and energy/utilities clients.

Broad incumbents

• Kelley Drye & Warren LLP: National firm with established insurance coverage and environmental practices representing policyholders and corporate clients in complex coverage disputes and environmental matters.
• Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP: Large national firm with substantial environmental, insurance coverage and litigation practices; offers overlapping capabilities as part of a much wider portfolio and competes for similar Midwest and national mandates.
• Smith Gambrell & Russell LLP: Multi-office firm with environmental, insurance and litigation practices serving corporate, real estate and energy clients across overlapping subject matters and comparable client types.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/psrblaw
• Facebookfacebook.com/plews-shadley-racher-braun-llp-102537036472222
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/plews-shadley-racher-&-braun
• Instagraminstagram.com/psrb_law

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Plews Shadley Racher & Braun LLP