Simmons Employee Foundation Gives 50,000 Pounds of Food Goes to Madison County Food Pantries

On Friday the Simmons firm, through the efforts of the Simmons Employee Foundation, completed its annual food drive, raising over 50,000 pounds of food for Madison County food pantries. Today we're delivering that food to four different shelters throughout the county: 

Crisis Food Center in Alton
Collinsville Area Ministerial Association
Community Care Center in Granite City
Community Hope Center in Cottage Hills

Thank you to our employees that opened their hearts and wallets to give back. Thank you to those who worked up a sweat to load the trucks. And thank you to all of these food pantries for the critical, life changing work you do.

I can't think of a more satisfying way to start the week of Thanksgiving. 

SEF Hosts 5th Annual Golf Tournament for Children with Cancer

First things first, I write this post from my position as a board member of the Simmons Employee Foundation (SEF), not as partner of Simmons Browder Gianaris Angelides & Barnerd LLC. It has been my privilege to serve the SEF, a truly respected organization in our community made up of caring, charitable, dedicated, and hard-working employees of the Simmons firm.

The firm’s leadership has recently recognized in this space the extraordinary efforts of the SEF, which has raised over one-half million dollars in just a handful of years. The recognition is much appreciated, as is the complete support the firm provides the employees in their philanthropic endeavors.

Again, as an SEF board member, I’m happy to announce that the organization continues to support those in need.

On Friday, September 18, the SEF will host its fifth annual golf tournament at Sunset Hills Country Club in Edwardsville, Ill. Foursomes are available for four-hundred dollars, single registrations for $100. The entry fee includes greens fee, cart rental, lunch or dinner, soda and beer on the course, and a complimentary gift. There are cash prizes for first- and second-place teams in three flights.

Now, bear with me. According to former American journalist and writer Westbrook Pegler, “Golf is the most useless outdoor game ever devised to waste the time and try the spirit of man.”

With apologies to Mr. Pegler, the SEF’s fifth annual golf tournament can, in fact, be the most useful outdoor activity you can participate in on Friday, September 18, and a true reflection of the spirit each of us bring as we reach out to help the children of H.I.S. K.I.D.S.

This event is for the children and families affected by childhood cancer. H.I.S. K.I.D.S. serves approximately 2,000 seriously ill children and family members each year from its locations in Highland, Ill., and Florida. All services are provided at no charge and without regard to race, creed, color, or financial ability.

I applaud SEF for identifying such a worthy organization. And I invite you to participate in and/or take advantage of sponsorship opportunities. One hundred percent of all net proceeds will benefit H.I.S. K.I.D.S.

I hope to see you on the course.

For more information, contact Lori Smith at 618-259-6102 or Yvette Scott at 618-259-6517. 

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

In reading the August 6 edition of The Alton Telegraph, I came across an article that tells the very personal story of Christina Benoit, a recipient of a zero interest loan and a house built by the Lewis and Clark Habitat for Humanity, Wood River Chapter. The story stated that the house will be “funded by the Simmons law firm . . .”

Collectively, our partners, attorneys, and employees constitute the Simmons law firm. So it’s important that I recognize the Simmons Employee Foundation, which recently held a dinner auction that generated over $150,000. Our employees, the people who deserve the credit for making a positive impact each year on the lives of people in our communities through support like this, donated $75,000 to Lewis & Clark Habitat for Humanity and $75,000 to the National Alliance of Mental Illness in Madison County.

In five years, the Simmons Employee Foundation has raised over $500,000. It is the result of the employees’ creativity and heartfelt commitment to their communities and those in need. And, I’m proud to say, that even in this economy, the employees succeeded in making the largest donation the Wood River chapter has ever received.

The Simmons firm indeed continues to fight for clients inside and outside of the courtroom, and we have provided financial support in the national fight against mesothelioma and other cancers. That’s part of our mission and who we are as a firm.

Individually, our employees – the people who live in neighborhoods near where they work – are as resolute in the commitment to helping others.

Along with Habitat for Humanity and the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the Simmons Employee Foundation has provided support to such organizations as: the American Lung Association, the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, the Phoenix Crisis Center, the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, the Beverly Farm Foundation, the United Way Community Christmas Program, ALIVE (Alternatives to Living in Violent Environments), the American Heart Association, the Metro East Humane Society, the Boys and Girls Club of Bethalto, and B.U.R.T. (Bubblemasters Underwater Rescue Team)

I’d like to applaud our employees for the great work they do every year to make a positive difference in the lives of others. Christina Benoit’s new home says a lot about the impact the efforts of our employees can make.

Well done, ladies and gentlemen.

Simmons Firm Featured on Fox News St. Louis

Fox 2 News of St. Louis paid our future home in Alton a visit this afternoon. As seen on the 6 o'clock news, the news crew captured Principal Melinda Fischer of Saint Peter and Paul Catholic School and her team hauling away furniture the Simmons firm has donated to the school.  The building, which was purchased earlier this month, was left with office furniture that the firm is donating to local organizations. 

We're encouraged to see the enthusiasm of local businesses and are looking forward to being good neighbors. 

Watch the news story below or view it on the Fox 2 Web site.

Looking Back on 10 Years of Client Service

July 20th marks the 10 year anniversary of the day we first opened our doors.

It’s been said that the achievements of an organization are the direct results of the combined efforts of each contributing individual. As our firm nears its 10th anniversary, I want to acknowledge our incredible family of attorneys and employees. Together, they have provided and continue to provide tremendous value to our clients, and to each other.

When this firm started with just eight of us, we made a promise to give each client and their family the attention, care, and respect they deserved. It was a promise that we believed would not only make a meaningful difference but also set us apart. It’s a promise we still live today, and one that has, in large part, led us to do good work for thousands of families affected by mesothelioma and asbestos across the U.S.
 
The goal was never to be the biggest. We’re honored to have come this far. It’s a testament to charter employees like Karen Bonnell, Ann Jackson, and Roger Lewis; to all of our partners; and to each skilled attorney and employee making a difference.

I thank them for their hard work, dedication, dogged determination, faith, and endurance. Their efforts have paid the price for the success of our firm.

We will take time to reflect on the last 10 years. But we will also take this opportunity to reaffirm our long-term commitment to victims’ rights and our promise to generate awareness about mesothelioma and the need to raise funds for better care and, ultimately, a cure, and to advocate the ban of asbestos in the United States.

More than anything, I want to express my gratitude for the trust of thousands of clients and their families across the country. From the courtroom to the living room to the hospital room, they allowed us into their lives. That is the ultimate compliment. They are, and will always remain, part of our family.

Pro Bono Guardians Ad Litem Program Provides Opportunity for Firm to Give Back to Community

Attorneys at the Simmons firm represent clients from all over the United States in various types of cases.  In late 2007, the firm made a decision to find a way to give something back to the local community where the main office is located in Madison County, Illinois.  After speaking with several judges on the local bench, a program was started within the firm that would allow the attorneys to be appointed pro bono, or free of charge, as Guardians Ad Litem in cases where the assigned judge deemed it necessary. 

Guardians Ad Litem (GALs) are appointed to represent the interest of people who are the subject of litigation but are not otherwise represented by an attorney or capable of representing themselves.  In most cases, GALs are appointed to represent the best interest of children involved in custody or visitation cases, although there are also situations in which GALs are appointed to represent the best interest of disabled adults in cases concerning their medical treatment or financial affairs. 

To launch this pro bono program, the Simmons firm hosted a training that was co-sponsored by the Illinois State Bar Association; more than fifty local attorneys attended the training, including twenty-five Simmons firm attorneys.  Since then, the Simmons firm attorneys have been appointed in more than thirty cases. 

Many of these appointments are done pursuant to Supreme Court rule.  For example, I was recently appointed GAL for an elderly woman who was the subject of a guardianship action.  She suffered from Alzheimer’s and had been in a long-term care facility for many years.  Her son had been handling her affairs throughout that time.  Unfortunately, her son passed away unexpectedly.  She had an adult daughter who was willing and able to step into the son’s shoes and act as guardian for the mother, but she  had not been able to complete the necessary legal paperwork because she did not have the money to hire an attorney.

In addition to hiring an attorney, Supreme Court rule requires that a GAL be appointed in every case where someone is seeking guardianship of a disabled adult, so the family would have to pay GAL fees in a normal situation. This family was simply not in a financial position to do that. A family friend who is an attorney volunteered to prepare the necessary paperwork, and the Court appointed the Simmons firm to act as GAL free of charge. 

I met with the disabled adult, who is a lovely woman.  She is very well-adjusted to her current care situation, but very obviously not in touch with reality.  Her nursing staff told me that her daughter who had applied for guardianship visited her mother regularly.  It was easy for me to make a recommendation to the Court that the daughter be appointed guardian. 

With very little effort on my part, we were able to make this family’s life so much easier.  Attorneys are in a unique situation to provide these kinds of services to people in the community—we should all try to do it more often.