Attorney G. Douglas Stephens last month was certified as a life member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, the trial-lawyers group announced.

Membership in the organization is limited to attorneys who have won million and multi-million verdicts, awards and settlements — fewer than 1% of U.S. lawyers, the group said.

Founded in 1993, the organization has about 8,000 members — 248 in Illinois. It lists its Million Dollar Advocates in Peoria as Joel Brown, Joseph Dunn, James LeFante, Robert Strodel, David Stuckel, Alicia Washington and J. Kevin Wolfe. Stephens and Jeff Green are the area’s only Multi-Million Dollar Advocates, the group says.

As a member, Stephens — who earned his bachelor’s degree at Northern Illinois University and his law degree at John Marshall Law School — was acknowledged for excellence in advocacy for his clients, and has access to a national network of experienced colleagues for professional referrals and information exchange in major cases.