St. Louis Commerce Magazine Features Firm's Work for Military Veterans and Cancer Research

St. Louis Commerce Magazine recently featured the Simmons firm, a leading national asbestos law firm, for its charitable work on behalf of military veterans and cancer patients.  Two November articles highlighted the Simmons firm’s generous donation to the building of a cancer institute at SIU and its acceptance of the John C. McAndrews award, which was awarded for the firm's pro bono work on behalf of veterans.  St. Louis Commerce Magazine is an official publication from the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association. 

Best known for helping patients and families affected by mesothelioma, a rare and terminal form of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos, the partners at the Simmons firm donated $10.2 million to help fund the development of the 63,000 square foot SimmonsCooper Cancer Institute at the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield, IL.  The institute will serve as a new center of cancer care and research for the downstate Illinois area.  The center will help to consolidate the medical school’s multidisciplinary cancer clinics that are currently located in multiple hospital buildings.  The new center will house seven of SIU’s nine cancer care teams and around 55 faculty physicians who hope to provide more sophisticated diagnostic capabilities, cutting-edge treatments and world-class cancer research not only to the people of Illinois, but to the world. 

St. Louis Commerce Magazine also recognized the Simmons firm for its receipt of the John C. McAndrews award.  The Illinois State Bar Association presents this award to honor attorneys who have shown extraordinary commitment to providing free legal services to individuals who could not otherwise afford them.  John Simmons, founding partner and a U.S. Army veteran himself, called the work "especially rewarding on a very personal level."

The Simmons firm has represented over 100 St. Louis area homeless veterans and the firm continues to work closely with local judges to ensure that Illinois soldiers returning from Iraq have access to legal services as well. 

The Simmons firm plans to continue its pro bono programs and to fund cancer research.  The firm has represented thousands of individuals diagnosed with mesothelioma and recently helped recover $13 Million in compensation for workers who contracted cancer from exposure to thorium while making nuclear weapons in Madison, Ill.