History of the Law Firm
The firm's roots in Johnson County, Iowa, can be traced back to William R. Hart, Sr., who practiced law in Iowa City from around 1907 through 1925. Mr. Hart was joined in the practice of law by his son, William, Jr. around 1912 with the firm thereafter known as Hart & Hart, Attorneys at Law. When William R. Hart, Sr. died in 1925, his son continued in solo practice. During the decade of the 1940's William R. Hart, Jr. practiced law from an office on the sixth floor of the Iowa State Bank & Trust Company building in downtown Iowa City. Louis Shulman commenced his practice in Iowa City in 1940 and also set up his office on the sixth floor of the bank building. In November of 1950 William V. Phelan, a Notre Dame graduate and former Internal Revenue Service agent, joined Louis Shulman's practice. Shortly thereafter William R. Hart, Jr., after serving a term as the U.S. District Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa, joined Mr. Shulman and Mr. Phelan and the firm became known as Hart, Shulman & Phelan and continued to be located in the Iowa State Bank building for some time.
The general practice firm continued to grow, along with the community, with attorneys from time to time joining and retiring from the firm. Since Hart, Shulman & Phelan the firm has been known by the following names:
- Hart, Shulman, Phelan, Tucker & Ivy;
- Shulman, Phelan, Tucker, Boyle & Mullen;
- Phelan, Tucker, Boyle & Mullen;
- Phelan, Tucker, Boyle, Mullen, Bright & Walker;
- Phelan, Tucker, Mullen, Bright & Walker, L.L.P.;
- Phelan, Tucker, Mullen, Walker, Tucker & Gelman, L.L.P.