In the world of Wylie Blair, success hasn’t come from flash or fanfare—it’s come from grit. From his earliest days playing basketball for Centralia High School, to his current role as a partner at a nationally known plaintiff’s firm in St. Louis, Wylie has built a life around hard work, mentorship, and an unshakeable commitment to doing things the right way.

Wylie graduated from Centralia High School in 1998. He was a student-athlete, playing both basketball and baseball, but it was basketball that left the deepest impression. “If you grow up in Centralia,” he says, “you grow up wanting to be an Orphan. It’s just part of the DNA.”

He remembers watching local legends like John Adams, John Cooksey, and Travis Scheriger, dreaming of one day stepping onto the court in their shoes. He did just that—earning his spot not because he was the star, but because he worked hard, listened, and showed up with heart. “To make it through the program at Centralia, especially in basketball, you had to be committed. That kind of structure stays with you forever.”

After high school, Wylie headed to the University of Illinois, where he majored in economics. Law school wasn’t an immediate decision, but he knew he wanted to go to graduate school. Eventually, the idea of law—of advocacy, of mastering complexity, of being in the fight—won out. He attended Southern Illinois University School of Law, graduating in 2005.

Today, Wylie is a partner at OnderLaw, one of the country’s most prominent firms for mass tort and environmental litigation. He’s represented thousands of clients in high-profile cases—everything from the Johnson & Johnson talcum powder suits to the Roundup non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma cases. His environmental work has included litigation on behalf of Native American tribes and public school districts impacted by contamination and pollution.

He’s quick to explain the difference between mass torts and class actions. “Mass torts are individual cases filed in large numbers,” he says. “Each case stands on its own. We’ve tried hundreds of them.”

He loves the intellectual challenge of litigation, but it’s the human side that drives him. “Whether it’s a product liability case, a trucking accident, or a contaminated school, these aren’t abstract problems. They affect real people. And that motivates me.”

Wylie lives in St. Louis now—on The Hill—with his wife, a fellow attorney who practices commercial real estate law. “We joke that we speak different languages,” he says. “She’s closing deals on industrial buildings, and I’m talking about toxins and tumors. We understand enough to support each other.”

The two of them share their home with Elton, their five-year-old miniature Goldendoodle—named, unofficially and somewhat humorously, after Elton John. “My wife registered him as ‘Sir Elton John,’” Wylie laughs. “So I guess it stuck.”

Though he’s built his career in St. Louis, Wylie’s roots remain in Centralia. His parents still live in the house that’s been in the family since the 1860s, on the west side of town. Both were longtime CHS teachers. His uncles still farm in the area. When asked what it means to come from Centralia, Wylie doesn’t hesitate.

“It’s home. And it’s the place that built my foundation—through my family, through school, through basketball. You take those lessons with you.”

He credits his success not just to law school, but to mentorship. “You don’t come out of law school ready to practice. You need mentors. I’ve been lucky to have great ones, starting with my parents and Coach Moss at CHS, and continuing throughout my career.”

Now 20 years into his practice, Wylie says he still learns something new every day. “Lawyers don’t retire,” he jokes. “You just keep getting better.”

If he could tell his younger self anything, it would be to stay the course—even through setbacks. “Everything you do well today moves you forward. And when you hit obstacles, they’re not dead ends. They’re lessons. You build on them.”

And that’s exactly what Wylie Blair has done—built, case by case, client by client, year after year. From a gym in Centralia to courtrooms across the country, he has taken that small-town resolve and turned it into a force for justice. Quietly, steadily, relentlessly. Just the way he was taught.