Biography
I am happy to announce my candidacy for election to the Board of Governors. I've been an active member of the ISBA since 1982 when I was admitted to the bar. I was previously elected to the Board of Governors (1st, 2nd, & 4th Judicial Circuits) from 2019-2022, and now look forward to serving the membership in the 7th, 8th and 9th Judicial Circuits in that same capacity.
I have previously been elected to serve on the Assembly: 2001-2007 and again from 2012-2019 and was appointed to membership on the Standing Committee on Law Office Management & Economics (2004-2015); Assembly Budget & Finance Committee and Association Audit Committee (2006-2007); General, Solo & Small Firm Practice Section Council (2014-2022); and presently serve on the Judicial Evaluations-Outside Cook County Section Council and the Judicial Polls Section Council since 2020. I enjoy membership in the Civil Practice and Insurance Law Sections Council since 1985. I look forward to taking an active role in the ISBA's continuing efforts to enhance its member's experience in the practice of law.
I was born many years ago in Elmhurst and grew up in Wheaton. In 1982 I moved to Hillsboro where I served as an Assistant State's Attorney until 1985 when I moved to Taylorville to begin about 34 years in private practice at what would become the firm of Beavers, Graham & Calvert. In 2019 I accepted the invitation to join Brown, Hay & Stephens, LLP in Springfield as Of Counsel. My practice has involved all aspects of client counseling and participation and is presently devoted about 95% to general litigation and appeals primarily in the defense of personal injury matters at the instance of the various insurance companies. I have prosecuted criminal misdemeanor and felony matters both as an assistant state’s attorney in Montgomery County, Illinois and as a special prosecutor before courts in Christian and Sangamon Counties, Illinois.
I have personally tried at least 100 civil and criminal matters to verdict before juries in Christian, Coles, Greene, Macon, Macoupin, Montgomery, Sangamon, and Shelby Counties and before the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois (Springfield Division); and have also actively directed and participated in other litigation before courts in at least 46 other Illinois counties, and the St. Louis City and St. Louis County Courts in Missouri. I have personally handled and argued approximately twenty-five matters on appeal before the courts of the Fourth and Fifth Appellate Districts in Illinois; the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District; and the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. I am certified as a civil litigation mediator, and regularly serve as an arbitrator in contested personal injury and property damage matters.
I have three children, Ryan Douglas Graham (1989 - 2005), Meghan Hadley Swiat, and Addison Ellen Graham. Meghan graduated in May 2019 at Augustana College with a major in sociology and has accepted employment at Family Resources of Springfield, Illinois. Addi is a 6th grader at Springfield Christian School. I married Kelli Gordon in 2010 and we reside at Springfield where we actively attend the West Side Christian Church.