Stites & Harbison Welcomes Seven Attorneys to Multiple Offices

LOUISVILLE, Ky.—Stites & Harbison, PLLC announces the addition of seven attorneys to the firm. Four attorneys join the Lexington, Ky., office: Harlee Havens, Brandon Lira, John Paul Stilz and Conner Wehrle. Alexandra Dunn, Lucy McIntire and Haley Duncan join the firm in Jeffersonville, Ind., Louisville, Ky. and Nashville, Tenn., respectively.

Harlee P. Havens is a member of the Torts & Insurance Practice Service Group. She earned her J.D. from the University of Kentucky J. David Rosenberg College of Law, summa cum laude and Order of the Coif, in 2022. In law school, Havens was the managing editor for the Kentucky Law Journal, Volume 110, and published a Note in that volume. For Volume 109, she was a staff editor. Havens also served as class representative of the Election Law Society (2019-22). Prior to joining Stites & Harbison, she was a judicial law clerk to the Hon. Chief Judge Gregory N. Stivers, U.S. District Court, Western District of Kentucky (2022-23). She also participated in Stites & Harbison’s summer associate program in 2020 and 2021. She is admitted to practice in Kentucky.

Brandon Lira is a member of the Creditors’ Rights & Bankruptcy Service Group. He earned his J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School in 2017. While in law school, Lira interned for a bankruptcy judge in St. Paul and the Standing Chapter 13 Trustee in Minneapolis. He also served as a student attorney and later the student director for the University of Minnesota Law School Bankruptcy Clinic. Prior to joining Stites & Harbison, Lira worked for the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois as a law clerk for Judge Thomas M. Lynch and Judge Donald R. Cassling. In between these clerkships, he also served the Northern District as a staff attorney. He is admitted to practice in Illinois and Texas, and his application for admission in Kentucky is pending.

John Paul Stilz (JP) is a member of the Construction Service Group. He earned his J.D. from the University of Kentucky J. David Rosenberg College of Law, summa cum laude and Order of the Coif, in 2022. In law school, he was a staff editor and an articles editor of the Kentucky Law Journal, Volumes 109 and 110, respectively. He also served as a teaching assistant to Professor Blanche Bong Cook for Criminal Law (Fall 2020). Prior to joining Stites & Harbison, he was a judicial clerk for Hon. Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky (2022-23). Stilz was a summer associate for Stites & Harbison in 2020 and 2021. He is admitted to practice in Kentucky.

Conner R. Wehrle is a member of the Trusts & Estate Planning Group. He earned his J.D. from the University of Kentucky J. David Rosenberg College of Law in 2023. Prior to joining the firm, he participated in Stites & Harbison’s summer associate program in 2021 and 2022. Additionally, he currently serves as the primary advisor to the Carolyn K. Wehrle Endowment. He partnered with the Blue Grass Community Foundation to set up the endowed fund in 2018 and delegates money each year to various community projects in Central Kentucky. Wehrle is also an active member of the Blue Grass Community Foundation’s 365 program (2021-present). He is admitted to practice in Kentucky.

Lucy F. McIntire is a member of the Torts & Insurance Practice Service Group. She earned her J.D. from the University of Louisville Louis D. Brandeis School of Law, summa cum laude, in 2023. In law school, McIntire was a first year staff member of the Journal of Animal and Environmental Law, Volume 13. She served as class representative for the Women’s Law Caucus and was a member of the Business Law Society and the Entrepreneurship Clinic. She also was a teacher’s assistant for Professor Marcia Ziegler’s Lawyering Skills II class (Fall 2021). Prior to joining the firm, McIntire participated in Stites & Harbison’s summer associate program in 2021 and 2022. She is admitted to practice in Kentucky.

Alexandra N. Dunn is a member of the Torts & Insurance Practice Service Group. She earned her J.D. from the University of Louisville Louis D. Brandeis School of Law in 2022. In law school, she served as a member of Volumes 59-60 of the University of Louisville Law Review. Her publications include an article in the University of Louisville Law Review, Volume 60, and an article in the Louisville Bar Association’s Bar Briefs in 2021. Dunn was a Writing Skills Law School Mentor for the Central High School Partnership (Fall 2020). Her honors include being a Brandeis Scholar, an Ordered Liberty Fellow and a recipient of the Samuel L. Greenebaum Award for Achievement in Legal Writing. Prior to joining the firm, Dunn was a judicial clerk for the Hon. Charles R. Simpson, III, Senior U.S. District Judge, Western District of Kentucky (2022-23). Dunn is a registered nurse, and before her admission to the bar, she practiced as a military and civilian nurse for 14 years. She is admitted to practice in Indiana.

Haley Duncan is a member of the Real Estate & Banking Service Group. She earned her J.D. from the University of Louisville Louis D. Brandeis School of Law, magna cum laude, in 2023. While in law school, Duncan was a member of the University of Louisville Law Review, Volumes 60-61. She served as vice president of the Business Law Group and was a member of the Women’s Law Caucus, the International Law Society and the Entrepreneurship Clinic. Additionally she is a recipient of the Samuel L. Greenebaum Public Service Fellowship. Before joining Stites & Harbison, Duncan participated in the firm’s summer associate program in 2022, was a judicial intern for Hon. Judge Irv Maze of the Kentucky Court of Appeals in the summer of 2021 and was a legal research intern for MothersEsquire in 2023. She is admitted to practice in Tennessee.