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2011 Forty Under 40: Wendy D. Brewer

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About me...
Wendy D. Brewer
Partner
Benesch/Dann Pecar
39
Web sites:
Social media:
On my hip:
iPhone 4
Most-used apps:
LinkedIn
Facebook
Words with Friends
Open Table
WISHTV
IBJ
Flixter
Shazam
Favorite stuff:
Books on CD, including Stieg Larsson series about Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander, and Patrick O'Brien's
Aubrey/Maturin Series; TV shows including "Big Bang Theory," "Glee" and "How I Met Your Mother."
 

In 2010, Wendy Brewer took a calculated risk. She left Indianapolis law firm Barnes & Thornburg, where she’d been a partner for five years, to join the new firm of Benesch/Dann Pecar.

“The headhunters came calling, and I thought it was a good opportunity,” said Brewer, who now leads 20 attorneys as vice chairwoman of the Business Reorganization Practice Group.

As a specialist in bankruptcy law and creditors’ rights, she counsels national and regional clients, and is certified as a business bankruptcy specialist. She also made the lists of Indiana Super Lawyers in her specialty for four straight years (2008-2011) and The Best Lawyers in America (2010 and 2011).

“There’s a lot of reward in doing something and doing it well.”

Was focusing on bankruptcy, creditors and debtors a lifelong dream? Brewer laughs. “I avoided all that stuff in law school,” which was at Florida State University, where she was inducted into the Order of Coif, an honor society for law school graduates.

She started out doing insurance defense litigation in Orlando. When she joined a practice in Tallahassee, she got her marching orders to develop a creditors’ rights practice for the firm.

“It really wasn’t ever a choice of mine, but I love it now,” she said.

When she’s not working, she and her husband, WISH-TV Channel 8 meteorologist Ken Brewer, are busy with their two children and their activities, swimming and Scouts.

“You just have to figure out when something’s important,” she said.

What’s also important to her is the not-for-profit Partners and Housing Development Corp., of which she is board chairman.

“It’s affordable housing that has support services tied to it, because that’s usually what residents need to maintain stable living arrangements,” she said.

She also worked on the transition team for Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard.

She likes to keep busy.

“I can’t help it,” she said, laughing.•

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  1. these guys only skill was to steal from other's hard earned savings.

  2. I voted for him last time and it WAS the LAST time. He needed to to quit running around the world on useless trips, and giving our $$ away to sports teams. I'll vote for anyone but Ballard next time. BTW...we gave $40M to the Pacers and cannot even watch the games on TV.

  3. For the people concerned about traffic, you should know that mixed-use projects (like the one being proposed), actually allows for and encourages more people to walk and bike, thereby mitigating additional automobile traffic. If we continue to design and build suburban-type projects in the City (i.e. automobile-oriented projects), we are not offering anything different from what the suburbs offer, which means we will continue to lose jobs/people to the suburbs. The reason Broad Ripple is somewhat successful today is that people want to live in a place that offers the convenience of being able to walk/bike to restaurants, retail, nightlife, the Monon, etc. Why would you not want to support a project that is complimentary to what already makes the area desirable? The real argument with this project should be its lack-luster design and layout, not the density.

  4. It is unfortunate that there is a perception that celebrities validate an event. The Indy 500 stands on its own, especially for those coming in from out of town. It was always so disturbing to read the gushing descriptions of Ashley Judd threaded throughout the local coverage. Very happy that era is at an end.

  5. Good ole' Obamacare. Thanks liberals and those who didn't bother to vote.

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