Refior Law Office - Curriculum Vitae

 

Rafe
Paul D. Refior

Warsaw, Indiana Office:

       347 N. Buffalo St Warsaw, IN  46580*

       Tel:  574-269-6649

       Fax: 574-269-7487

       Email:  paul@refior.com

       Web Site:  www.refior.com

 

Lafayette, Indiana Office:

       5901 E 200 N (at 600E), Lafayette IN  47905

       765-589-3880

 

CAREER SUMMARY

 

Rafe is a man who enjoys his life, his family, his ministries and his work.  A diligent and experienced attorney with extensive estate planning, litigation, trust management, probate, business/corporate, and real estate experience.  A disciplined man of convictions, determined to achieve a high standard of excellence and to minister to the legal, personal and spiritual needs of clients.  A balanced and joyful lifestyle and a successful family man.  Admitted to practice in Indiana, Florida, Iowa and Wyoming.

 

By way of summary, I started my legal career in 1975 as a Navy JAG.  Then I practiced a couple of years in Pinedale, Wyoming (1978-80) before a year’s sabbatical in Japan (1980-81).  In 1981 I established Refior Law Office.  Since then I was admitted to practice in Florida (2001), I opened Refior Law Office – Lafayette (2006), and now I reside and practice in both Warsaw and Lafayette, while also maintaining legal activity in Florida.

 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

 

         November 1981 to the present – Refior Law Office.  Warsaw and Lafayette, Indiana

 

         My law practice at Warsaw and Lafayette, Indiana (and Florida) is limited to litigation, estate planning, probate, trust administration, business/commercial/corporate related matters, and real estate.  Clients include manufacturing companies, and numerous businesses and individuals.

 

         The history of my practice is noteworthy.  During our missionary work in Japan in 1980-1981, with all credit to the Lord, we saw the Lord bring much fruit for the Lord, but our missionary service exhausted all of our financial resources.  In November 1981, we did a very unlikely thing.  Even though we did not have any clients, or even own a car or any law office equipment, furniture or books, we moved to Warsaw, Indiana to “hang a shingle” and begin solo law practice.  Over the years the law practice grew and prospered.  In 2001 I was admitted to practice in Florida.  In 2006 I opened my branch office in Lafayette, Indiana.  In a typical week I am in Warsaw Monday through Thursday, and in Lafayette, Friday through Sunday.  I travel to Florida as necessary to take care of Florida clients and legal matters.

 

         June 1981 to October 1981 – Special Assignment Deputy Prosecutor, Ottumwa, Iowa.

 

         Upon our return from Japan, I turned down an offer to return to the law firm in Wyoming because we wanted to move back to the Midwest.  My wife, Pam, was a native Hoosier so we decided to settle in Indiana.  I faced a minimum of four months for my application for admission to be processed, and I needed to provide for my family in the interim.  A law school friend of mine, who was aware of the fact that I had considerable jury trial experience, was the prosecuting attorney in Ottumwa, Iowa.  When he learned that I would be available, he asked if he could hire me for a short time to prosecute several criminal jury trials for him.  During that period of time, I worked in Ottumwa during the week and commuted 7 hours each way to Kokomo, Indiana, on weekends to be with my family.

 

         1980 to 1981 – The Evangelical Alliance Mission, Takamatsu, JAPAN.

 

         We accepted the invitation from career missionaries Ralph and Stella Cox to fill in for them as best we could while they would be back in the United States for one year of furlough.  When we arrived in Japan, a different career missionary declared, “We appreciate your decision and sacrifice to come to Japan, but because you do not know the language, and you have not been to seminary, and you do not know Japanese culture, your time here will not be productive or fruitful … but thanks for coming anyway.”  Despite such lack of encouragement, we knew why we were there and we continued to expect significant results and fruit.  Our duties at the beginning were to teach English conversation classes and assist at some small Japanese churches.  Things developed rapidly to the point that we were having multiple Bible studies and activities in our home, and by the time we left I was preaching four times each Sunday in Japanese churches, with the assistance of an interpreter.  I presently serve on the International Board of Directors of TEAM.

 

         1978 to 1980 – Mason & Refior, P.C., Pinedale, Wyoming.

 

         At the time I completed my military service, I turned down a number of job offers from large and medium-sized law firms to join Gerald Mason’s firm in beautiful Wyoming.  Gerald was an outstanding attorney (Gerald graduated to Heaven in 2005).  At a later date I became a 50% stockholder of the busy trial law firm.  Although Pinedale is nestled at the foot of the spectacular Windriver Mountain Range of the Rocky Mountains, both of us attorneys had a pilot’s license and there were two airplanes, which allowed for us to engage in representation and cases throughout Wyoming and northern Colorado.  Legal work included significant water rights cases and the legal aspects of the oil and natural gas industries.  While practicing law in Pinedale, a very unusual invitation was received to undertake missionary work in Japan.  Even though it otherwise seemed like a strange thing to do, after significant prayer, a decision was made that the Lord was indeed leading us to take a sabbatical from the law practice and to accept the one-year assignment in Japan.

 

         1974 to 1978 – United States Navy, Judge Advocate General Corps.

 

         In 1974 I trained in Newport, R.I.  In 1975 I attended Naval Justice School again in Newport, R.I., and then I proceeded with orders to Norfolk.  As a Navy JAG Officer I was stationed at the Naval Legal Services Office, Naval Station, Norfolk, Virginia.  I was engaged in extensive trial work in criminal cases as a prosecutor and as a defense counsel, including murder, rape, armed robbery, bank robbery, counterfeiting, and other serious felony cases.  I maintained a very high caseload and achieved regular success in jury trials.  The experience also provided outstanding training as a Naval Officer, and in leading and coordinating subordinate attorneys and staff.  [Received National Defense Service Ribbon and Navy Commendation Medal; honorably discharged].

 

EDUCATION

 

         Bachelor of Arts, Magna Cum Laude, major in Psychology, minor in Political Science; Iowa Wesleyan College, Mount Pleasant, Iowa; 1972

 

         Juris Doctor, With Honors; University of Iowa College of Law, Iowa City, Iowa; 1975 (President of the Iowa Student Bar Association, 1974-1975.

 

         Certificate; Naval Justice School, Newport, Rhode Island; 1975.

 

         Many continuing legal education courses; 1975 to present.

 

PROFESSIONAL

 

            Admitted to practice in the courts of the following:

·       State Courts of Indiana – 1981

·       State Courts of Florida – 2001

·       State Courts of Iowa – 1975

·       State Courts of Wyoming – 1978

·       United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces – 1975

·       U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida – 2004

·       U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida - 2005

·       U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming – 1978

·       U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana – 1982

·       U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana – 1997

·       U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan – 1990

·       United States Tax Court – 1987

·       United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit – 1992

·       United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit - 2006

·       The Supreme Court of the United States – 1997

 

ASSOCIATIONS

 

·       National Lawyers Association

·       Indiana State Bar Association

·       The Florida Bar

·       Iowa State Bar Association

·       Wyoming State Bar Association

·       Kosciusko County Bar Association

·       Tippecanoe County Bar Association

PERSONAL

 

·       Age 58

·       Gloriously married to Pam for 38 years

·       Two daughters, Nikki Lambeth (age 37, married to Jonathan with three sons) and Laura White (age 32, married to Brian with two daughters and twin sons.)

·       Members of Faith Baptist Church, Lafayette, Indiana.

·       Chairman of the Board of Directors of Lakeland Child Evangelism Ministries, Winona Lake, Indiana, a nonprofit corporation with ministries in the local area, as well as significant worldwide involvement through the production and development of evangelistic action films and videos which are translated into multiple languages for distribution and evangelistic use throughout the world.

·       Member of the International Board of Directors of The Evangelical Alliance Mission (TEAM), Wheaton, Illinois.  A major global mission board.

·       Author of It’s Your CHOICE – A Happy & God-honoring Marriage, and RAFEHAND – A System for Speedwriting, and some published articles.

·       An avid Iowa Hawkeyes fan …. Go Hawks!

·       Rafe enjoys loving his gorgeous and outstanding wife Pam, being a happy and involved grandpa, family travel, family activities, sports of all kinds, woodworking, writing (e.g., novels, articles, books on Christian topics, children’s stories), kayaking, bicycling, woodcarving, art and graphics, walking the beach, studying, meditating and applying the Bible, speaking at seminars and retreats, BowFlex-ing and weightlifting.

 

 

(May 2008)