ALTON, Ill. – Simmons Hanly Conroy, one of the nation’s largest mass torts firms, is pleased to announce that Missouri Lawyers Weekly has named Jo Lee Siener, the firm’s director of finance, as one of its Unsung Legal Heroes for 2017, in the Accounting category.
“Jo Lee is a selfless manager who excels at her job without the expectation of recognition while inspiring those around her,” said Simmons Hanly Conroy Chairman John Simmons. “Her recognition as one of the Missouri Lawyers Weekly’s Unsung Legal Heroes is well deserved because she fills an integral, but behind-the-scenes role in providing the justice our clients deserve. We are thankful for her work and dedication over the years.”
The Unsung Legal Heroes honors law firm employees who have consistently gone above and beyond the call of duty, often behind the scenes. This year’s Unsung Legal Heroes were featured in a special section of Missouri Lawyers Weekly published July 24. Missouri Lawyers Weekly, a legal industry magazine, reports on legal decisions from state and federal courts in Missouri, as well as other news vital to attorneys.
As the firm’s finance director, Siener manages a 13-person team responsible for handling the settlements process, including disbursements to clients, as well as the firm’s general accounting needs. She has successfully overseen the disbursement of client results and improved efficiencies in her department, including streamlining the process for clients to receive settlement checks in a timely manner. The process used to take up to a month more than a decade ago but is now completed within a week.
Siener, who resides in Godfrey, Ill., joined the accounting department at Simmons Hanly Conroy in 2003, in charge of working with the firm’s attorneys, co-counsel and clients to process hundreds of millions of dollars annually in disbursements. Her successes include helping the firm to seamlessly comply with the Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) provision. Siener’s work put Simmons Hanly Conroy on the cutting edge, making it one of the first law firms in the country to internalize the MSP reimbursement process. She also played an instrumental role in helping develop the Medicare Form B – which is now used in courts across the country – to process these liens at the courthouse.
