West Liberty Chamber of Commerce Business Spotlight: Allbee, Barclay, Allison, Denning and Oppel, PC
by Lindsay Hoeppner · July 14, 2010

In 1874, J. Loring Brooke doubled as a bank officer and a lawyer.

Eventually, J. Loring’s son, Robert Brooke, took over the firm and partnered with Robert Barclay.

Around the same time, Gustavus Allbee began his own law firm in Muscatine.

Nearly a century later, the two firms merged in the building that once doubled as both a bank and a law office.

That building, located at 103 East Third St. in West Liberty, now houses the law office of Allbee, Barclay, Allison, Denning and Oppel, PC.

“Brad Person had been Bob Barclay’s partner after Robert Brooke died, and following Mr. Barclay’s death, he was the attorney here when we merged,” said Linda L. Allison, one of the attorneys at the firm. “One of the requirements he had in merging was that the Barclay name stay in the firm name, which we were more than happy to do. Brad Person moved to Minnesota to practice law with his father, and we’ve been here ever since.”

In addition to Allison, the other attorneys at the firm, which also has offices in Muscatine and Wilton, are Harvey G. Allbee Jr., Gerald F. Denning, R. Craig Oppel and Julie A. Degen. Donna Ervin serves as the firm’s legal assistant.

Although Denning, Allison and Degen are at the West Liberty office the most, Allbee Jr. and Oppel have clients in the community, as well.

Between the three offices, the firm primarily draws clients from Muscatine, Johnson, Scott, Cedar and Louisa counties.

The firm, which is a general practice, mainly handles areas such as probate, estate planning, real estate, family law, including adoptions and divorces, civil litigation, wills, powers of attorney, municipal law, banking law, contract disputes and corporate law.

According to Allison, the future goals of the firm are to continue offering “quality service with a personal touch.”

“I can say that since we merged here in 1999, I have thoroughly enjoyed working out of this office,” she said. “I really like the environment here.”

“We’ve met lots of very nice people in this area,” Degen added. “I’m really enjoying getting to know the West Liberty folks.”

Allbee, Barclay, Allison, Denning and Oppel, PC is open 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday and can be reached at 627-2713.