Jeff Claflin is a twenty year veteran of the firm, becoming a law clerk in 1988, an associate in 1990, and a partner in 1996.  He has worked in Indianapolis most of this time, twice serving as the managing partner.   In 2008 Jeff moved to South Bend to manage the firm’s office there. 

Initially, Jeff’s focus was on environmental law, having come to the firm from the Office of Policy and Regulatory Analysis at the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.  But since the early ‘90s, Jeff has worked primarily on insurance coverage cases, often representing policyholders in complex disputes involving multiple cleanup sites and insurers.   Jeff worked on two landmark environmental coverage cases in Indiana early in his career:  American States Ins. Co. v. Kiger, 662 N.E.2d 945 (Ind. 1996), and Hartford Acc. & Indem. Co. v. Dana Corp., 690 N.E.2d  285 (Ind. Ct. App. 1997) (choice of law, “suit,” “damages”).  He was lead counsel in General Housewares Corp. v. National Sur. Corp., 741 N.E.2d 408 (Ind. Ct. App. 2000) and Governmental Interinsurance Exchange v. City of Angola, 8 F.supp.2d 1120 (N.D. Ind. 1988).  He has represented a number of other policyholders, large and small, in various coverage actions, including:   Eli Lilly & Company, Vectren, Raybestos, the City of Angola, Guidant Corp., PSI Energy, the City of Warsaw and Standard Fusee Corporation.    Jeff’s litigation practice extends to non-environmental issues as well.  In Town of Montezuma v. Downs, 685 N.E.2d 108 (Ind. Ct. App. 1987) and Natural Gas Odorizing, Inc. v. Downs, 685 N.E.2d 155 (Ind. Ct. App. 1987), for example, Jeff and others at PSRB established the negligence per se of a locally-run gas utility and made new law on the duty of a manufacturer to warn end users when a product has a known defect that can cause serious harm.   In Indiana Glass Company v. Indiana Michigan Power Company, 662 N.E.2d 886 (Ind. Ct. App. 1998), Jeff worked with utility regulation and the UCC. 

Jeff has done substantial appellate work, having worked on over 40 appeals, and having argued before the Indiana Court of Appeals, the Indiana Supreme Court and the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

Jeff received his B.A. (Business Administration, American History) from Anderson University in 1981.  He attended the School of Theology at Anderson University from 1982 though 1985.   Jeff worked full time while attending law school from 1985 through 1990.  He was a law clerk for the Office of Hearings of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management from 1986 to 1988 and was the Administrative Assistant/Acting Director for the Office of Policy and Regulatory Analysis of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management in 1988.  Jeff joined the firm as a law clerk in 1988.  He earned his J.D. from the Indiana University School of Law, Indianapolis in 1990.  He became a partner in 1996.   Jeff is a member of the Indiana Bar, the Bar of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Jeff supports, or has supported, several charitable organizations through the years, including Indiana University, Anderson University, Child Advocates, Inc., the Horizons Urban Student Enrichment Program, and Kaleidoscope Youth Center.   Jeff has served, or is serving, on boards for the Eisenhower Memorial Scholarship Foundation and for Horizons.