Welcome New LANDS Members

We would like to welcome four new members to our cadre of LANDS Attorneys. 

Andrew Henderson

Andrew Henderson serves as Vice President General Counsel with the Building Industry Association of Southern California.  He was admitted to the California State Bar Association in 1990 and has represented clients in a variety of cases, including land use and planning, public finance and environmental compliance.

Mr. Henderson holds degrees from the University of Santa Clara and University of Southern California, as well as a Juris Doctor Degree, with honors, from University of North Carolina School of Law. He worked in the corporations department at O’Melveny & Meyers in Los Angeles, did public interest litigation and client counseling at Hall & Henderson LLP and has argued before the U.S. Supreme Court. Before coming to BIA/SC, he served as general counsel for KB Homes.

He has also held numerous positions on nonprofit boards, including Founding Director and Chairman of Los Angeles-based Break the Cycle, which provides legal services to domestic violence victims and as counsel on the Independent Commission on the Los Angeles Police Department.

Mr. Henderson serves as legal counsel to BIA/SC and acts as liaison and advisor to the Building Industry Legal Defense Foundation. He provides governmental affairs support on legal issues and provides legal assistance to Chapters and members.

Steve Mysliwiec

Stephen Mysliwiec has more than 25 years of trial and appellate experience in the federal and state courts, arbitration, and mediation. He has extensive experience in insurance coverage, suretyship, construction defect, and product liability litigation. Mr. Mysliwiec has litigated numerous insurance coverage disputes involving policyholders in the real estate, construction, hotel, assisted living, computer, transportation and food service industries. He also advises clients in the real estate, construction, and financial services sectors regarding insurance and indemnity issues in complex real estate and construction transactions.

Mr. Mysliwiec also represents trade associations, builders, and owners regarding various insurance coverage and liability issues arising from claims of defective workmanship and defective building materials.  Mr. Mysliwiec is active in the firm's litigation, real estate, and construction training programs, and he has written and lectured on a number of construction and insurance topics. He is a frequent lecturer on litigation and insurance issues. His article, "Insurance Coverage for Claims of Latent Defects: What Protection Is a Builder Buying?", won the Burton Award for excellence in legal writing.

Mr. Mysliwiec received his J.D. from Yale University, an M.A. from the University of Notre Dame and a B.A. from the University of Notre Dame.  He is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia.

Thomas Geselbracht

Thomas Geselbracht focuses his practice on Real Estate, Land Use and Development, and Litigation.  Mr. Geselbracht served as chief counsel to the Illinois Low Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Facility Siting Commission, which conducted a hearing into the safety and suitability of a site proposed in Illinois for the disposal of radioactive wastes, and has handled numerous eminent domain cases as a Special Assistant Attorney General.  Mr. Geselbracht currently teaches a course titled "Law and Practice of Land Use, Eminent Domain and Zoning" as adjunct faculty at Northwestern University Law School, and as Lecturer in Law at the University of Chicago Law School.

His current caseload primarily involves eminent domain, zoning, and environmental matters in both the trial and appellate divisions of federal and state courts.  Mr. Geselbracht has been designated an Illinois Super Lawyer in both 2005 and 2006, as the result of research projects conducted jointly by Law & Politics and Chicago magazines.  Among Mr. Geselbracht's recent cases are jury trials related to:  Condemnations for open space in San Diego County, California, highway improvements throughout the metropolitan Chicago area, office properties in Chicago and Waukegan, Illinois; and an equestrian subdivision in Lake County, Illinois.   Zoning trials involving proposed shopping center developments in Waukegan, Illinois; Matteson, Illinois; Lisle, Illinois; Melrose Park, Illinois; and Chicago, Illinois; and a high-rise apartment building in Chicago, Illinois.   A lease dispute involving a superannuated lake freighter.  An injunction proceeding regarding the right to lay fiber optic cables in municipal rights of way.  Administrative proceedings to change the sewage boundary districts in western Du Page County and central Lake County, Illinois.

Mr. Geselbracht is admitted to practice in Illinois and before the federal district courts in Illinois and the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado.  He received his J.D. from the University of Chicago and his undergraduate degree from Marquette University.

Mark A. Vawter

Mr. Vawter is an associate with Murphy Desmond in Madison, Wisconsin.  He joined the firm in January 2003 and practices in the areas of litigation, land use and real estate and municipal law.

Prior to joining Murphy Desmond, Mr. Vawter served as a judicial intern for the Honorable Justice Jon P. Wilcox of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, as a law clerk with another Madison law firm, and also as a student intern with the Neighborhood Law Project.  He was also the Director of the Legal Information Center serving the University of Wisconsin - Madison and local community.

Before attending law school, Mr. Vawter served as a paralegal in the United States Navy, having graduated first in his class at the Naval Justice School, Newport, Rhode Island.  His duty stations included, among others, the aircraft carrier USS Constellation, the Navel Medical Center San Diego, and as a staff paralegal for the Commander, Navel Base, San Diego.

Mr. Vawter received his J.D. from the University of Wisconsin in Madison and his undergraduate degree from Michigan State University.  He is admitted to practice in Wisconsin and before the Wisconsin federal district courts and the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. [ return to top ]