History of Holwager & Holwager, P.C.
Holwager & Holwager, Attorneys at Law, P.C. is an elder law firm with clients primarily in the Beech Grove and greater Indianapolis area, but also throughout the State of Indiana. Proud of our principled history of compassionate service, commenced by our founder, Joseph Edwin Holwager, we embrace our duty and responsibility to capably represent clients, often while they face great personal challenge.
Joseph Edwin (“Joe”) Holwager was born and raised near Madison, Indiana. As a young man, he served in the United States Navy during World War II as a Corpsman and his unit saw combat in Guadalcanal. It was there that Joe was awarded the Silver Star for his courage and bravery in action by assisting in the rescue of injured officers. After being honorably discharged from the Navy, Joe worked for the Indiana Board of Health, eventually becoming its Director of Vital Records. Every so often we even find a client whose birth certificate bears Joe’s signature from his tenure with the State.
Upon graduation from the Indiana University – Indianapolis, School of Law, Joe initially practiced law from home, but soon thereafter opened an office on 405 Main Street in Beech Grove. During the late 1960’s, Bud Harrell joined Joe and the two practiced law as “Holwager & Harrell” until 1981 when Bud retired.
A few additional significant milestones of the firm & its members have included:
1980 – Joe’s son, William (Bill) Holwager, graduates from the Indiana University – Indianapolis, School of Law, and joins his father in the practice of law, while also serving a tenure as a Commissioner of the Marion Co Circuit Court under Judges Frank P. Huse and John Ryan.
Mid 1980s – Bill begins teaching continuing legal education (CLE) courses for the Indiana Continuing Legal Education Forum (ICLEF) and others.
1987 – Joe passed away and Bill assumes sole responsibility for operation of Holwager & Holwager.
1988 – Bill relocates his practice to its present location at 18th & Main and welcomes Attorney David L. Byers to share space, realizing a plan the two friends had discussed as law school colleagues. For many years the practices of Dave & Bill focused on different legal topics to complement each other and offer a broad range of client services.
1992 – Bill serves as the chair of the Estate Planning and Administration section of the Indianapolis Bar Association (Indy Bar).
1997 – The 1818 Main St. building is substantially renovated and altered from a Suite A / Suite B configuration to a much larger multi-office & shared workspace providing much needed space for the existing staff and for the addition of Attorney James E. Caughey to relocate his private law practice to Beech Grove and share space with Bill & Dave.
1999 – Bill serves as one of the initial co-chairs of the Elder Law Section of the Indiana State Bar Association after having been one of the 8 original members of the elder law sub-committee of the Probate, Trust, and Real Property Section.
2004 – 2006 – Bill is recognized as a Super Lawyer through superlawyers.com.
2008 – Joe’s grandson Mark Welsh Holwager joins the firm as a clerk for his father, Bill.
2014 – Joe’s grandson, Andrew Joseph Noone begins practicing law at 18th & Main St. with Dave Byers. Mark graduates from the Indiana University – Indianapolis, School of Law & is sworn-in to the Indiana Bar as an Attorney. He begins his private practice in Beech Grove, continuing to work for his father, Bill.
2015 – Bill & Mark Holwager re-organize the structure of the firm from its sole ownership by Bill to shared ownership of the Professional Corporation (PC) Holwager, & Holwager, Attorneys at Law. Mark begins a 2-year-term on the Board of Directors for the Indiana Chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (IN-NAELA).
2016 – An Open House is held to recognize the 100th birthday of our late Founder, Joe Holwager.
2019 – David Byers retires and Andrew Noone opens Noone Law, LLC maintaining his office at the 18th & Main St. location. Andrew also joins H&H, P.C. as an ‘Of-Counsel’ attorney. Mark Holwager begins his twelve-month tenure as chair of the Elder Law Section of the Indiana State Bar Association.
2020 – Mark Holwager is recognized as a “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers and Attorney Carrie C. Devine-Ransom, a graduate of the Indiana University – Indianapolis, School of Law joins the H&H, P.C. Team. Bill celebrates his 40th anniversary as an attorney and is recognized by Martindale as having a Preeminet rating for 25 years.
2021 – Attorney Jessica M. Berk (Jess), a graduate of the Indiana University – Indianapolis, School of Law joins the H&H, P.C. Team and Attorney Jim Caughey retires.
For more information on the Holwager & Holwager, Attorneys at Law, P.C. team, please click here.
Each attorney of H&H, P.C. is a proud member of:
- The Elder Law Section of the Indiana State Bar Association (ISBA)
Online at: https://www.inbar.org - The National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys
Online at: https://www.naela.org
Holwager & Holwager, Attorneys at Law, P.C. shares office space with Attorney Andrew J. Noone of Noone Law, LLC
Online at: http://noonelawllc.com
