INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - The law firm of Bose McKinney & Evans LLP is pleased to recognize Steven Badger for his participation in the Indiana State Bar Association Professional Legal Education Admission & Development Section (PLEADS).

PLEADS has been selected as the 2012 recipient of the E. Smythe Gambrell Professionalism Award for its Mentor Match program, which is one of the state bar's major initiatives. The Mentor Match program helps attorneys who are new to the profession find an experienced mentor. The award was given by the American Bar Association (ABA) Standing Committee on Professionalism at the ABA's annual meeting in Chicago on August 3.

Badger will assume leadership as chairman of the PLEADS section in fall of 2012. As chair he will oversee the initiatives of the section, including monitoring changes in the rules for admission to the bar and for lawyer conduct, as well as promoting the educational and professional development of Indiana law students, lawyers and judges.

Badger is a partner in the Bose McKinney & Evans Litigation Group, representing clients in business litigation, arbitration and appeals. His litigation practice focuses on business disputes, media law and the defense of lawyers and professionals accused of negligence.

Badger is a resident of Zionsville, Indiana, and is a member of the American, Seventh Circuit, Indiana and Indianapolis Bar Associations. He is a former chair of the Indiana State Bar Association's Civil Rights of Children Committee, and was recently appointed by the Indiana Supreme Court to the Indiana Commission for Continuing Legal Education. Badger earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Wabash College and his law degree from the Indiana University School of Law - Bloomington. Both degrees were awarded summa cum laude.