Three attorneys and two people who have been here longer

A general practice firm is only as general as the people in it. Here is who they are, what each of them actually does, and what they did before this.

Practice areas: Business law. Real estate law. Estate planning. Estates, wills and trusts. Contracts. Not for profit organizations. Business organizations.
Direct: BobB@gmbslaw.com

Robert L. Bauman

Attorney, founding member

Robert L. Bauman is one of the founding members of the firm. Bob practices in business law, real estate law, estate planning and estate administration, and his practice includes work for a number of not for profit organizations. He is admitted to practice in the State of Indiana and is a member of the American Bar Association, the Indiana State Bar Association and the Tippecanoe County Bar Association. He is a past president and lecturer of the Indiana Municipal Lawyers Association, past City Attorney for the City of West Lafayette, and previously represented the Tippecanoe County Area Plan Commission.

Bob was born in Champaign, Illinois in 1950. He attended Purdue University and received his B.A. in 1972, then his J.D., magna cum laude, from Indiana University in 1975, where he was an Associate Editor on the Indiana Law Review. Away from the office he cycles, whitewater rafts and skis, has ridden RAGBRAI several times on a recumbent bicycle, and is a published digital photographer.

Education

Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, J.D. 1975, magna cum laude
Indiana Law Review, Associate Editor, 1974 to 1975
Purdue University, B.A. Political Science, 1972

Bar admissions

Indiana, 1975

The Gambs, Mucker and Bauman wheel crest, shown in place of a portrait

Practice areas: Banking. Business and commercial. Real estate. Loan documentation. Natural resources law.
Direct: KeithF@gmbslaw.com

Keith R. Fafarman

Attorney

Keith Fafarman has practiced law since receiving his J.D., summa cum laude, from the Indiana University School of Law in Bloomington in 1991, and joined the firm the same year. His primary areas are creditor's rights and loan documentation, business and commercial law, commercial litigation, real estate and land use law, and natural resources law. He is admitted to practice in all state and federal courts in Indiana and in the United States District Court for Arizona, and is a member of the Tippecanoe County Bar Association.

Keith came to law from wildlife science, with a B.S. in Forest Biology from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry and an M.S. in Wildlife Management from Texas A&I University. Alongside publications on legal topics he has published articles on wildlife biology and management in scientific journals. He is a director of DESMO of Indiana, Inc., a non profit that promotes motorcycle riding and safety, and as a transplanted New Yorker admits to following the Yankees and the Jets.

Education

Indiana University at Bloomington School of Law, J.D. 1991, summa cum laude
Texas A&I University, M.S. Wildlife Management, 1978
State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, B.S. Forest Biology, 1976

Bar admissions

Indiana, 1991
U.S. District Court, Southern District of Indiana, 1991
U.S. District Court, Northern District of Indiana, 1991
U.S. District Court, District of Arizona

Practice areas: Family law mediation. Family law. Wills.
Direct: PamH@gmbslaw.com

Pam Hermes

Attorney

Pam Hermes joined the firm in 1999 and practices in family law, family law mediation and wills. She received her J.D. with distinction from the University of North Dakota School of Law, where she was a member of the Order of the Coif and the Order of Barristers, sat on the 1980 National Moot Court Team, and was a member of the North Dakota Law Review. She is a member of the Indiana State Bar Association, the Tippecanoe County Bar Association and the Indiana Association of Mediators.

Pam completed Minnesota mediation and arbitration training in 1994, Indiana domestic relations mediation training in 2012, and Indiana guardian ad litem training in 2015. She has been a guest lecturer at the University of North Dakota Law School and at the State Judicial Institute, and her published work includes articles in the North Dakota Law Review and service as Indiana contributing editor to the Tort Law Desk Reference from 2002 to 2014. Before Indiana she clerked for the Honorable Justice Stephen Bistline of the Idaho Supreme Court.

Education

University of North Dakota School of Law, J.D. 1981, with distinction
Order of the Coif and Order of Barristers
University of North Dakota, B.S. 1978, summa cum laude

Bar admissions

Indiana, 1999
U.S. District Court, Northern District of Indiana, 1999
U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit, 1986
Minnesota, 1982
North Dakota, 1982
Idaho, 1982

The two people who know where everything is

Beth Watts joined in 1978 and Christi Lower in 1980. In a firm this size that is not a detail. It means the corporate book for a client formed in the eighties is where it should be, and the person who filed it is still here.

Beth Watts

Certified Legal Assistant and office manager

Beth Paddack Watts has been with the firm since 1978. Working under the direct supervision of the firm's attorneys, she concentrates in trusts, wills, elder law and probate administration, and she is also the office manager. She received her degree in paralegal studies from the University of Indianapolis in 1985 and earned her CLA status from the National Association of Legal Assistants in 1984, and has continued her education in elder law and probate administration since. Beth is a past board member and president of the board of Mid-Land Meals, Inc., a 2003 graduate of Leadership Lafayette, and a supporter of the March of Dimes.

BethW@gmbslaw.com

Christi Lower

Paralegal

Christi Lower has been with the firm since 1980. Her paralegal practice focuses on business organizations and real estate law, and she is responsible for maintaining the corporate documents of many of the firm's business clients. Born in Monticello, Indiana, she received her paralegal certificate from Indiana University in 1988. She enjoys cooking, reading, time with her family, especially her three granddaughters, and the Caribbean.

ChristiL@gmbslaw.com

Memberships and appointments

American Bar Association: Robert L. Bauman
Indiana State Bar Association: Robert L. Bauman, Pam Hermes
Tippecanoe County Bar Association: Robert L. Bauman, Keith R. Fafarman, Pam Hermes
Indiana Association of Mediators: Pam Hermes
Indiana Municipal Lawyers Association: Robert L. Bauman, past president and lecturer
National Association of Legal Assistants: Beth Watts, Certified Legal Assistant since 1984
DESMO of Indiana, Inc.: Keith R. Fafarman, director
Order of the Coif and Order of Barristers: Pam Hermes

What each of them does day to day is set out in the practice areas, and the organizations the firm acts for are on the clients page.

What five people can and cannot do

We answer the phone

It is the firm's own first promise about itself, and it is a low bar that a surprising number of practices do not clear. Somebody picks up, and the person who picks up can usually help.

A general practice, on purpose

Business, property and estates are the same subject seen at different moments. A firm that handles all three sees the whole arc rather than one frame of it, and the client is not the one carrying context between three offices.

Your time is part of the job

The firm's stated commitment is that when you work with its lawyers, you can be confident they will respect your time. That means being told what a matter needs, what it does not, and when it does not need a lawyer at all.

Long relationships, not transactions

Many clients arrive for one matter and come back years later for something unrelated. That is the firm's explicit aim, and it changes how advice gets given the first time.

The honest limit is capacity. A firm of three attorneys cannot staff a matter that needs a team of ten, and it does not take criminal, immigration or personal injury work. You will hear that on the first call rather than in month three.

About the people here

Which attorney would handle my matter?

It depends on what it is. Robert Bauman takes business, real estate, estate planning and estate administration. Keith Fafarman takes banking, commercial, loan documentation, real estate and land use, and natural resources matters. Pam Hermes takes family law, family law mediation and wills. Call and whoever answers will tell you.

Why is there no photograph of Keith Fafarman?

Because the firm does not publish one. His own page on gmbslaw.com shows the firm crest in that position, and this site does the same rather than substituting a stock portrait of somebody else.

Will I be dealing with an attorney or with staff?

Both, usually, and that is a feature rather than a fudge. Beth Watts and Christi Lower have been at the firm since 1978 and 1980 and do a great deal of the work on estates and on corporate records, under the attorneys' supervision.

Are the attorneys admitted anywhere besides Indiana?

Yes. Keith Fafarman is admitted in all state and federal courts in Indiana and in the United States District Court for Arizona. Pam Hermes has been admitted in Minnesota, North Dakota and Idaho, and to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, as well as Indiana.

How do I reach a specific person?

Every attorney and both staff members have their own address, listed with their entry above, and the office number is 765-423-1001. Please do not send confidential details before an engagement is in place.

Talk to an attorney, not an intake form.

Call 765-423-1001 and ask for an appointment, or send the details through and somebody will get back to you.

Schedule a consultation

Call 765-423-1001

Contacting Gambs, Mucker & Bauman does not create an attorney-client relationship, and nothing on this site is legal advice. Please do not send confidential information until a written engagement is in place.