James Richard Myers

James Richard (“Rick”) Myers concentrates his practice in civil litigation (trials), agricultural law, bankruptcy, debtor/creditor relations, property law and real estate law.

Mr. Myers received his Juris Doctorate degree, Magna Cum Laude (high honors), from Northern Illinois University College of Law in May of 1994. He became an attorney with The Law Group upon his admittance to the Illinois Bar on November 10, 1994. He is also admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States District Courts for the Central and Southern Districts of Illinois and the Southern District of Indiana. Rick is licensed to practice law in the state of Texas.

While in law school, Rick was a member of the Northern Illinois Law Review, where he served as an assistant editor. He was involved in moot court, and received a Competition Prize for his legal brief. He was on the Dean’s List (honor roll) each term he was in law school, and he received American Jurisprudence Awards for his study of Torts and Contracts. Prior to law school, Rick received a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science from the Lyman Briggs School at Michigan State University.

During his first two years of law school, Mr. Myers clerked at a litigation firm in St. Charles, Illinois. He spent the summer before graduation as a summer associate at an Aurora, Illinois firm that focused in bankruptcy reorganizations. During his third year of law school, Myers was a research assistant for Professor A. Samuel Oddi, who lectured in torts and intellectual property law. He is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association where he currently serves as a member of the Agricultural Law Section Council (Chair 2010-2011; 2023-2024) and the Commercial Banking, Collections and Bankruptcy Section Council. He is also a member in good standing of the Fayette County Bar Association.

Rick holds a diploma for completing the National Institute of Trial Advocacy’s National Program, an intensive two-week trial skills course held in Boulder, Colorado. He has spoken on bankruptcy and agricultural reorganization issues for the Illinois State Bar Association’s Continuing Legal Education Program. He serves as a Special Assistant Attorney General for the State of Illinois, representing the People in eminent domain and related land acquisition matters. He was a panelist during the 55th Annual Meeting of the Seventh Circuit Bar Association held in Chicago, Illinois, which discussed the American Jury Project with federal judges and attorneys from throughout central and southern Illinois. Myers has been selected by his peers as a Leading Lawyer in several areas of the law, including Agriculture Law and Commercial Litigation.

Rick is a past president of the Vandalia Chamber of Commerce and of the Family YMCA of Fayette County, having served in that role for eleven years.  He was honored by the Vandalia Chamber of Commerce with an Abe Award for his service to the community. He is a member of Bethel Baptist Church in rural Vandalia.

James Richard Myers was born November 1, 1967, in Midland, Michigan. He lived in Hong Kong and Baton Rouge, Louisiana before graduating from St. Charles (Illinois) High School in June, 1986. Rick and his wife, Dana, reside in Vandalia. They have four adult children.