Meet our Super Lawyers® for 2006

Thomas D. Peebles, Jr. is a member of the firm’s Estate Planning Practice Group. Tom has over 26 years of private practice experience in estate planning and estate and trust administration matters, and has concentrated his practice in those areas since 1980.
Tom’s experience includes the preparation of basic and sophisticated estate planning documents, as well as wealth transfer planning for high net worth clients, closely held business owners and their families. The author of several publications and a frequent lecturer on estate planning topics, Tom was elected a Fellow of The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel in 2004.
Over the years, Tom has devoted a substantial amount of his time towards civic and charitable activities including the Community Foundation of the Ozarks, the Springfield Public Schools Foundation, the Springfield-Greene County Library Foundation, the History Museum of the Ozarks, the Hospice Foundation of Southwest Missouri, and the Child Advocacy Council. Tom was recognized as one of ten “Volunteers of the Year” as part of the 2004 Gift of Time Awards sponsored by the Council of Churches of the Ozarks.
Tom received his bachelor’s degree from Missouri State University, cum laude, in 1977, and his law degree from the University of Missouri at Kansas City in 1980.

As a member of the Transactional Practice Group, Bill concentrates his practice in the areas of taxation, corporations, real estate, and employer/ employee law. His vast experience, which includes mergers and acquisitions, taxfree like-kind exchanges of real estate, and the formation and planning of limited partnerships, limited liability companies, and corporations, has made Bill a highly sought-after continuing legal education instructor for more than 20 years.
In 2003, Bill was appointed as the Legal Advisor to the International Brotherhood of Magicians, a not-for-profit organization consisting of over 14,000 amateur and professional magicians worldwide. Bill has also served the
organization as a member of the Endowment Committee as well as the Business Systems Committee.
A Fellow in the American College of Tax Counsel, Bill’s educational background includes a bachelor’s degree from Southern Methodist University in 1974, a law degree in 1977 from the University of Missouri, and an LL.M. in Taxation from Southern Methodist University in 1980.

Brad Cantwell is a member of the Transactional Practice Group and practices in the areas of employee benefits, taxation, and corporate law. With over 20 years of experience in the area of employee benefits, including nonqualified plans, ESOPs, pension and 401(k) profit sharing plans, cafeteria plans, HIPAA and trouble-shooting complex ERISA issues, Brad has been a lecturer at numerous seminars during his career.
Brad received both his undergraduate and law degree from the University of Missouri at Columbia in 1978 and 1981, respectively, and received his LL.M. in Taxation from the University of Miami in 1984.
Brad has also devoted time to civic and charitable organizations, recently serving as president of the Developmental Center of the Ozarks.

Joseph Dow (“Chip”) Sheppard III is a member of both the Litigation and Dispute Resolution Practice Group and the Transactional Practice Group, concentrating his practice in the areas of real estate, business, securities and intellectual property litigation, dispute resolution and transactions. A substantial portion of Chip’s practice includes securities and other fraud and fiduciary duty related claims, both as an arbitrator and as counsel for the parties.
Throughout his illustrious career, Chip has tried a combined total of more than 50 arbitrations, state and federal trials, both jury and non-jury, in his areas of concentration. Other areas of Chip’s practice include a variety of
business transactions, real estate development and related litigation and probate litigation. A former arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association, New York Stock Exchange, and a present arbitrator for the National Association of Securities Dealers, Chip was elected as a Fellow of the American Bar Association in
2005.
Chip’s community involvement includes serving as a director of Hickory Hills Country Club since 2003, as well as serving as a member of the Chamber of Commerce Governmental Relations Committee (1995-present). He has also served as an Elder at the First and Calvary Presbyterian Church and on the Board of Directors for Leadership Springfield and the Housing Authority of Springfield. His educational background includes a bachelor’s degree from Missouri State University in 1980, and law degree, as an E. Eugene Mason Endowed Scholar, in 1983 from Southern Methodist University School of Law.