Baylor Evnen Wolfe & Tannehill, LLP has been rooted in the heart of Lincoln since 1896. Though life has changed dramatically since 1896, our core values have not. Our longevity, success and growth are due to our representation of clients throughout Nebraska and the Midwest, based on trust, integrity, and excellence, complimented by our commitment to community and country.
Judge Addison S. Tibbets was a Cornell University graduate and District Court Judge in Lincoln, known for his integrity and candor. Judge Tibbets left the bench in 1896 to start a private practice grounded by the same values, which continue to guide the firm. In 1900, Walter L. Anderson, a veteran of the Spanish American war and a member of “Grigsby’s Cowboys,” joined the firm, after which the firm was known as Tibbetts and Anderson.
In 1910 the firm hired a young graduate of the University of Michigan Law School, F.B. Baylor, eventually making him a partner, and the firm was then known as Tibbets, Anderson and Baylor. After Judge Tibbets died in 1916 and Walter L. Anderson resumed his military service in World War I, Mr. Baylor led and grew the firm, and the firm has carried his name since.
H.B. (Hyman) Evnen, a graduate of the University of Nebraska College of Law, was already an accomplished lawyer when he joined the firm in 1940. Firm lore is that his practice required him to spend substantial time at the firm then known as Baylor, Tou Velle & Healey, such that Mr. Baylor quipped: “As long as you are spending all your time over here, why don’t you just come on over and help pay the rent?” Mr. Evnen was one of the preeminent workers’ compensation attorneys in the state, established the firm’s workers’ compensation practice group, growing it to become the largest in the state. Since 1949, the first two names in the firm have been Baylor Evnen, which remains the case today.
It was around 1970 that another Lincoln native, Jack Wolfe, began to have aspirations of founding his own law firm. These aspirations were cultivated during discussions with his boss and mentor at the time, Mr. Norman Krivosha, who, after years of private practice, served as the Lincoln City Attorney and was ultimately named Chief Justice of the Nebraska Supreme Court.
At the time, Mr. Wolfe was serving as a law clerk with the Lincoln City Attorney’s Office and, upon graduation from the University of Nebraska Law College, was hired as an assistant City attorney by Mr. Krivosha. When Mr. Krivosha was named Chief Justice of the Nebraska Supreme Court, Mr. Wolfe made the decision to make his stake In Lincoln, hang up his own shingle, and began searching for like-minded partners who shared his essential core values of family, community, integrity, honesty and fairness.
Ambitious and competitive, Mr. Wolfe began his strategic search for these like-minded partners who would also build complementary skills and practices to broaden the appeal of his firm. In 1977, Mr. Wolfe found the first of these skilled legal minds in John C. Hurd and soon thereafter a Deputy County Attorney, James B Luers, and the firm was officially founded. Over the following years, additional exceptional attorneys were added as associates and partners.
In 2016, Mr. Wolfe and his partners expanded the expertise and depth of their firm, merging with Lincoln-based John Hahn and Barry Hemmerling to form Wolfe Snowden Hurd Ahl Sitzmann Tannehill & Hahn, LLP. It was a team of competitive, smart, intelligent attorneys with the shared core values of the firm’s original founding.
In 2022, the partners of Baylor Evnen LLP and Wolfe Snowden Hurd Ahl Sitzmann Tannehill & Hahn, LLP realized that their core values were the same and their practice areas complimentary. To capture the obvious synergy between the two firms, on January 1, 2023, they merged to form the largest law firm fully located in Lincoln, Nebraska: Baylor Evnen Wolfe & Tannehill, LLP.
Baylor Evnen Wolfe & Tannehill, LLP takes pride in its exceptional history, core values and commitment to the Lincoln community, to Nebraska and to the Midwest. Some of our most distinguished lawyers have served, and some continue to serve, as judges of the State District Court, United States District Court and the Nebraska Supreme Court. Our lawyers have served, and continue to serve and lead, countless community service organizations, commissions, trade organizations, bar associations, and non-profit agencies.
Our long history of military service includes attorneys who have and the U.S. military, including service in most of the major military engagements in which the United States has been involved in the past 125 years, from the Spanish American War, World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War, Bosnia, to Operation Desert Storm, and Operation Iraqi Freedom. The firm’s most prominent service member is Walter E. Zink II, who ascended to the rank of Major General.
We have stayed true to our values for over 125 years and continue to do so every day. We are proud that, because of our values and history, the attorneys of Baylor Evnen Wolfe & Tannehill LLP comprise some of the most respected voices in Insurance Defense & Insurance Coverage, Workers’ Compensation, Labor & Employment, Business Law & Litigation, Professional Liability and more.
To take advantage of our exceptional history and proven approach to legal matters, contact us.
ALFA International
Baylor Evnen is a proud member of ALFA International, a global legal network of like-minded, independent law firms who are among the best in the industry.
Firms must meet stringent criteria to join the prestigious ranks of existing members. This allows the organization to connect clients from around the world with impeccable, cost-effective legal counsel.