Forty Under 40: Chad L. Atwell

Chad Atwell doesn’t have an “a-ha” moment of knowing he wanted to be an attorney.

“Maybe being from a family of outlaws in Crawford County had something to do with it,” he joked.

But he can say why he opted to leave a firm with three partners, four associates and numerous staff members to open his own shop in January 2013.

“Good or bad, the decisions were mine,” Atwell said. “It’s something I had always wanted to do.”

Atwell, who spent three years as deputy prosecutor in Benton County, has handled a wide variety of cases since going into private practice in December 2007.

He characterizes his own firm as full-service, built to handle several different areas for a client.

Atwell also provides pro bono work to the indigent in criminal and family law cases, as well as to veterans re-integrating into the community.

Atwell, a Cedarville native, has an undergraduate degree from the University of Arkansas and also earned his juris doctorate there in December 2004.

In 2012, he was named a Top 40 Under 40 honoree by The National Trial Lawyers organization.

As for his future plans, Atwell isn’t looking too far in advance.

“There are no promises for tomorrow, so I just try to do the best I can by my clients and my family today,” he said.

Atwell is married to Liz Hogan, a weekend anchor for local NBC affiliate KNWA-TV.