Meet Our Attorneys
When you need experienced lawyers in Southeast Missouri, you can rely on the law offices of Little, Schellhammer, Richardson & Knowlan. We have over 120 years of combined experience providing quality legal services and expertise. At Little, Schellhammer, Richardson & Knowlan Law Offices, we aggressively fight for your rights.
Ron Little
Workers' Compensation
Ron essentially limits his practice to helping injured workers with workers compensation cases. He is an experienced trial lawyer and has successfully tried numerous cases on behalf of injured workers and settled hundreds more. His ability, knowledge and experience allow him to provide quality representation for people with work injuries.
Ron grew up in Southeast Missouri and he enjoys representing injured workers including factory workers, truck drivers, UPS and Fed-Ex drivers, construction workers, retail workers, police officers, nurses and other healthcare workers.
He can help injured workers get the workers compensation benefits they are entitled to. That includes medical treatment (and mileage or travel expense), weekly temporary disability benefits and a settlement for permanent disability. For those unable to return to work, that could mean workers’ compensation benefits of several hundred dollars per week for life.
Ron knows that a carelessly concluded workers compensation claim may cause the unnecessary loss of Social Security Disability, Medicare, Medicaid, or SSI benefits. He will help you avoid the unnecessary loss of one or more of those benefits.
You should also know, that if some of your medical bills were paid by health insurance or you received short term or long-term disability benefits under a disability policy, your health insurance company and/or your disability insurance company may be entitled to be repaid after you have settled your workers’ compensation case. Ron can help you avoid that problem and help you insist that the settlement with the workers’ compensation insurance company protect you from those risks.
AREAS OF PRACTICE
• Workers’ Compensation
EDUCATION
• Fisk-Rombauer High School
• Southeast Missouri State College (now University)
• University of Missouri (pre-law)
• University of Missouri School of Law, Columbia, Missouri
Therese Schellhammer
Social Security Disability, Workers' Compensation
Therese Schellhammer is a graduate of University of Missouri at Columbia School of Law, and is a founding partner of Little, Schellhammer, Richardson & Knowlan, P.C. Ms. Schellhammer concentrates her practice on Social Security Disability and Workers’ Compensation cases. Her career in Social Security Disability spans over 40 years, resulting in thousands of successful claims.
A high percentage of all new clients come to Ms. Schellhammer for assistance are from referrals by past clients pleased by the service and decisions they have received. She has extensive experience in building Social Security cases from the initial denial, to obtaining fully favorable decisions from appeals to the Federal District Court. Her knowledge of Social Security law combined with an exceptional attention to detail, allows her clients to be confident in the knowledge that their claims are being aggressively and competently handled.
AREAS OF PRACTICE
• Social Security Disability
• Workers’ Compensation
BAR ADMISSIONS
• The Missouri Bar Association
• U.S. District Court Eastern District of Missouri
EDUCATION
• Ms. Schellhammer is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Law, Columbia, Missouri, 1980 Juris Doctorate.
• University of Maryland, 1977 Bachelor of Arts.
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS AND MEMBERSHIPS
• Member Butler County Bar Association
• Member National Organization of Social Security Claimant’s Representatives
Matthew Richardson
Personal Injury
Matthew Richardson is a 1975 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point. After completing 5 years as an officer in the U.S. Army, he graduated from George Washington University Law School in 1983, with honors. Matt began his legal career as a law clerk for U.S. District Judge H. Kenneth Wangelin. He practiced for several years in St. Louis in the area of commercial litigation, before moving his practice to Poplar Bluff in 1989.
Matt is a seasoned trial attorney and a graduate of the National Institute for Trial Advocacy, with numerous successful jury and non-jury trials during his 40-year practice. Personal injury litigation, including auto injury, premises liability and medical negligence, is his primary area of concentration. He is a member of the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys and the American Association for Justice, and served as Municipal Judge for Poplar Bluff, Missouri from 1991 through 2002.
Areas of Practice (Personal Injury)
• Auto injuries
• Premises liability
• Medical Negligence
• Product liability
• Wrongful death
Bar Admissions
• Missouri, 1983
• Illinois, 1984
• U.S. District Court, 1983
Education
• George Washington University National Law Center,
Washington, DC, 1983 J.D. (With Honors)
• United States Military Academy, West Point, New York, 1975 B.S.
• Boston University, Boston, MA, USA, 1980 MBA
Professional Associations and Memberships
• Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys
• Bar Ass’n of Metropolitan St. Louis
• American Association for Justice
Past Employment Positions
• U.S. Army, Officer
• Hon. H. Kenneth Wangelin U.S. District Judge, Law Clerk (1983-1984)
• Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (St. Louis), (1984-1989)
• Richardson Law Firm Poplar Bluff, Missouri (1989-2022)
• Municipal Judge, City of Poplar Bluff 1991-2002
Sheila Blaylock
Workers' Compensation
Sheila Rae Blaylock is a life-long resident of Southeast Missouri. She was
raised in Malden and moved to Poplar Bluff after college (B.S.Ed.
University of Memphis - cum laude 1984). Before deciding to attend law
school, Sheila was a title agent for Butler County Abstract & Title and a
member of our legal support staff for almost 20 years. During that time she
was also an adjunct instructor for Three Rivers College at the Bootheel
Education Center in Malden.
In 2004, Sheila joined Little, Schellhammer, Richardson & Knowlan Law
Offices, P.C. after graduating from the University of Missouri School of
Law.
Sheila has successfully tried a number of cases before the Missouri
Division of Workers' Compensation but now devotes most of her time to
post-trial and appellate issues. Sheila’s research and writing has been
instrumental in securing and preserving many of the permanent total
disability awards obtained for our severely injured clients. She has filed
briefs with and argued before the Missouri Labor & Industrial Relations
Commission, the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern and Southern Districts
and the Missouri Supreme Court.
AREAS OF PRACTICE
· Workers’ Compensation – Claimants Practice
BAR ADMISSIONS
Missouri, 2004
Nick Adkins
Workers' Compensation
Nick has represented Workers’ Compensation Employees since 2013, and he practices out of the Cape Girardeau and Farmington locations. There is nothing more important to Nick than doing a good job for his clients.
Nick was born and raised in Northeast Arkansas. His upbringing was spent around farmers, construction workers, truckers, and factory workers. He is the son of a “radio man” and a Special Education teacher.
Nick will tell you that the most important part of his job is securing good medical treatment for his clients. He will not recommend you resolve your case until you are fully satisfied that you are at “maximum medical improvement.” He understands that we only get one body, and his clients typically only get one case.
Nick knows that a carelessly concluded workers’ compensation claim may cause the unnecessary loss of Social Security Disability, Medicare, Medicaid, or SSI benefits. He will help you avoid the unnecessary loss of one or more of those benefits.
You should also know that if some of your medical bills were paid by health insurance or you received short term or long-term disability benefits under a disability policy, your health insurance company and/or your disability insurance company may be entitled to be repaid after you have settled your workers’ compensation case. Nick can help you avoid that problem and help you insist that the settlement with the workers’ compensation insurance company protect you from those risks.
Nick lives in Missouri with the love of his life, and many animals. He enjoys getting outside and playing sports, but nothing more than spending time with his family.
AREAS OF PRACTICE
• Workers’ Compensation, Missouri & Illinois
EDUCATION
• Pocahontas High School, Pocahontas, Arkansas
• University of Southern Illinois School of Law, 2013 Juris Doctor
• Arkansas State University, 2009 B.S.
• Honors: Cum Laude
BAR ADMISSIONS
• Missouri 2013
• Illinois 2014
Alicia Leonard
Personal Injury, Social Security
Alicia Leonard was born and raised in Southeast Missouri, she is a 2008 graduate from Twin Rivers High School in Broseley. She attended Three Rivers College in Poplar Bluff from 2008 until she graduated with her Associates of Arts Degree in May of 2010. She then graduated from Missouri State University in Springfield, MO with a B.S. in Political Science in May 2012. She obtained her Juris Doctorate degree Cum Laude from University of Arkansas Little Rock, William H. Bowen School of law in 2018.
Prior to attending law school she worked as a legal assistant at Little, Schellhammer, Richardson & Knowlan for Mr. Jack H. Knowlan, Jr. for 2 years. Alicia also clerked for Mr. Ron Little and Mr. Knowlan during breaks while she was attending law school.
Alicia began her practice focusing on representing injured workers with Mr. Knowlan and Mr. Little, she still on occasion takes a Workers’ Compensation case. Alicia now works with Mr. Matthew Richardson focusing on civil litigation and personal injury. Being injured in a motor vehicle accident, on the premises of a business or premises of another’s home is a scary and trying time. She prides herself in helping her clients navigate their treatment after injury and obtaining a recovery for their pain and suffering, property damages, medical expenses, and other expenses that were a result of their injury.
Brittany Woodruff
Workers' Compensation
Brittany Woodruff is a lifelong resident of southeast Missouri. She grew up in Essex, MO and moved to Poplar Bluff as a teenager. She completed her high school academics at Richland R-1 High School and is a proud Richland Rebel. Brittany graduated from Southern Illinois University School of Law in 2020.
Prior to going to law school Brittany worked as an assistant in the Workers Compensation Department at Little, Schellhammer, Richardson, & Knowlan Law Offices for ten years, and continued to intern there throughout law school. While still a relatively new attorney, Brittany has sixteen years of experience helping injured workers. Her knowledge of workers compensation combined with her experience and compassion ensures her clients are getting the zealous representation they deserve. Brittany is a member of the Missouri Bar Association, the Butler County Bar Association, and the American Bar Association.
AREAS OF PRACTICE
• Workers’ Compensation
EDUCATION
• Southern Illinois University School of Law, 2020 Juris Doctor
• Hannibal-LaGrange University, 2016 Bachelor of Science
BAR ADMISSIONS
• The Missouri Bar
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS AND MEMBERSHIPS
• Butler County Bar Association – Member
• American Bar Association - Member
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