​Heyl Royster is pleased to announce that four attorneys have become partners with the firm: Dana Hughes in the Peoria office, Barry Noeltner in the Edwardsville office, Brian Smith in the Urbana office, and Lynsey Welch in the Rockford office.

Ms. Hughes represents employers in workers' compensation claims. She frequently speaks and writes on Workers' Compensation law, including co-authoring Southern Illinois University Law Journal's "Survey of Illinois Law: Workers' Compensation." Ms. Hughes graduated cum laude from Northern Illinois University College of Law. In 2015, she was named to Leading Lawyers Emerging Lawyers list. 

Mr. Noeltner's practice is focused on the defense of personal injury, construction, nursing home claims, and professional liability litigation. In 1985, he was one of the original lawyers in the firm's Edwardsville office, and he returned to the Edwardsville office in 2012. He has taken numerous cases to verdict in both state and federal courts and has handled appellate matters in state and federal appellate courts, including the United States Supreme Court. Mr. Noeltner is licensed to practice in Illinois and Georgia, including the federal district and appellate courts in those states, and has arbitrated construction cases with the American Arbitration Association. He is a trained mediator who has been ranked an AV Preeminent lawyer by Martindale-Hubbell since 1995. Mr. Noeltner received his J.D. from the Southern Illinois University School of Law.

Mr. Smith concentrates his practice in the areas of civil rights, employment law, education, commercial litigation, professional liability and trucking/motor carrier litigation. He was named to the Leading Lawyers Emerging Lawyers list in 2015, and has been named an Illinois Super Lawyer Rising Star from 2012-2015. Mr. Smith graduated summa cum laude from the University of Illinois College of Law. Prior to law school, Mr. Smith worked for five years in campus ministry.

Ms. Welch dedicates a significant portion of her practice to the defense of workers' compensation cases. She handles cases in Rockford, Chicago, Ottawa, New Lenox, Wheaton, and Waukegan. She has authored a variety of articles on Workers' Compensation law and Workers' Compensation appeals. She is a graduate of Northern Illinois University College of Law.

Heyl Royster is a regional Midwest law firm with more than 100 lawyers, and offices in Peoria, Springfield, Urbana, Rockford, Edwardsville, and Chicago, Illinois. The firm provides legal services for businesses and corporations, professionals, healthcare organizations, governmental entities, universities, insurance carriers, and other major institutions. Heyl Royster lawyers have successfully defended clients in all of the federal courts and in each of the 102 counties in the State of Illinois, as well as in courtrooms in Missouri and Wisconsin. Our attorneys also counsel clients on all aspects of business life. Through our lawyers' participation in bar and industry activities, we identify and help develop trends in the law which we believe will be of benefit to our clients.

To learn more about our firm, go to www.heylroyster.com.