Author Archive

Eckenrode Maupin: Serving up Dinner at Ronald McDonald House

November 3rd, 2010. By BrendaC

This new LawyersandSettlements.com column looks at a side of lawyers you don’t hear too much about—the side that gives back…pays it forward..and shares the love. We’ve found quite a number of attorneys who log non-billable hours helping others—simply because they believe it’s the right thing to do. Their stories are inspiring, and hey, who knew lawyers were so…good? If you’ve got a story to share about an attorney who’s doing the right thing, let us know—we’d love to let others know, too. Today, we talk with John Fischesser of Eckenrode Maupin…

Attorney John Fischesser: “It’s important for us to give back”

These are difficult times for many people in the US–and because of that, lawyers and support staff at one medium-sized law firm in St. Louis are more committed than ever to using their extra time to help out wherever they can. “It’s just the culture that exists here,” says attorney John Fischesser of Eckenrode Maupin, “everyone in our office has been blessed with a job, an education, and it’s important for us to give back to people who find themselves in situations that are out of their control.” 

The firm does not mandate that attorneys and staff do volunteer work. “An email just goes out asking who’s available to help with a particular project and if they can they sign up,” says Fischesser who estimates that the firm donates hundreds of personal hours to everything from picking up litter with the Adopt-a-Highway program to hammering nails for Habitat for Humanity projects to raising money for cancer research. 

At least four times a year, the firm serves dinner at Ronald McDonald House in St. Louis. “There are usually ten of us there. We go out and buy the food—we probably contribute about 150 hours of volunteer time on that project alone each year,” says Fischesser. 

“You get time to interact with the people at the Ronald McDonald House dinners,” says Fischesser. “When you think about what those families are going through, just the fact that they are willing to share their time with us and take time to thank us—it’s really rewarding.” 

The Ronald McDonald house program provides families with a home-away-from-home while their child may be hospitalized at a non-local treatment center. The goal is for families to be able to put complete focus on the needs of the child without having to worry about finding an affordable place to stay, or where they may find their next meal. 

Eckenrode Maupin is a general civil litigation firm that handles both plaintiff and defense work. It defends doctors, nurses and healthcare providers caught in medical malpractice suits. On the plaintiff side, the firm handles everything from non-medical personal injury claims to wills and estates. 

“There are more people than ever who are in need during these difficult economic times,” says Fischesser, “and I think it would be easy for anyone to just focus on their own needs. But I think it’s important to realize that there are lots of people out there who need help—and volunteering is one of the things I enjoy doing with others from our firm.” 

Fischesser also works with the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis (BAMSL) which offers Wills for Heroes. According to Fischesser, “It’s a pro bono wills and estates clinic for police officers, firefighters and others. We hear from Wills for Heroes program coordinators that people who have more dangerous jobs are often reluctant to discuss their own mortality and sometimes don’t do the estate planning they should to ensure their loved ones are taken care of. It’s an ongoing project that BAMSL does once or twice a year.” 

John Fischesser is an attorney with Eckenrode Maupin in St. Louis, Missouri. His work focuses on civil litigation, including representing injured workers in worker’s compensation lawsuits, plaintiffs in personal injury matters, and defending insurance claims. Fischesser has tried over a dozen bench trials and is licensed to practice in Missouri, Illinois, and Louisiana.

Tags: Eckenrode Maupin, John Fischesser, Ronald McDonald House
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Bradshaw & Bryant: Stopping DUI One Taxi Ride at a Time

October 25th, 2010. By BrendaC

This new column at LawyersandSettlements.com looks at a side of lawyers you don’t hear too much about—the side that gives back…pays it forward..and shares the love. We’ve found quite a number of attorneys who log non-billable hours helping others—simply because they believe it’s the right thing to do. Their stories are inspiring, and hey, who knew lawyers were so…good? If you’ve got a story to share about an attorney who’s doing the right thing, let us know—we’d love to let others know, too. Today, we talk with Mike Bryant of Bradshaw & Bryant…

Attorney Mike Bryant on Giving Back: “It’s Just the Right Thing to Do.”

Attorneys often see, close up and personal, the tragedy that results from drunk driving. Five years ago, a Minnesota firm decided it would pick up the tab for people who needed a ride home from a bar during the first two weeks of the New Year. “Yes, it is expensive,” says Mike Bryant, an engaging, warm kind of guy and a partner in the four-lawyer personal injury firm of Bradshaw & Bryant.

“We pay for a couple of hundred rides during that period, but I like the idea of doing it,” says Bryant. “It’s just the right thing to do.”

The public has become increasing unsympathetic to people who drink and drive, and with good reason. “It creates a mess,” says Bryant, speaking about drunk drivers. “And it also affects their families, maybe their ability to earn a living, and if they are involved in an accident where people are injured or killed, it’s a disaster.” 

The firm has handled many cases involving alcohol and catastrophic injury. “We have seen the effects that criminal charges have on people charged with driving under the influence (DUI), and we have also seen people who have been injured as a result of accidents involving alcohol,” says Bryant. “It is horrible all around.”

“I’ve had people phone me up and thank me, and taxi drivers like it too. They say they get better tips,” adds Bryant.

For the first year, Bryant’s firm paid for New Year’s Eve plus the next two weeks of cab rides, but the cab company said most people take care not to drink and drive on that particular night of the year because they know the police are watching.

“The problem is after New Year’s Eve,” says Bryant. “There are a lot of office parties, people having “get- togethers,” and that’s when they make mistakes. So we now pay for the two weeks after New Year’s Eve.”

Bryant says the free taxi rides at New Year’s have been a local tradition in the community. “There was another company that did it, but they stopped. We decided to jump in. We do it in conjunction with the radio station and the cab company, but we foot the bill,” says Bryant.

Interestingly, Bryant says the statistics show that Thanksgiving is actually when police find the most drunk drivers on the road. The firm is thinking about adding a few extra days during that time of year. 

Mike Bryant is a partner with Bradshaw & Bryant. He is a graduate of the William Mitchell College of Law, St. Paul, Minnesota. He has been named by his peers as one of Minnesota’s top 40 personal injury lawyers four times in five years.

Tags: Bradshaw & Bryant, Drunk Driving, DUI, Mike Bryant, Minnesota, Taxi
Posted in Emerging Issues, Lawyers, Lawyers Giving Back | No Comments »

Stinking Chinese Drywall is Everywhere

March 25th, 2009. By BrendaC

Like the average American doesn’t have enough to worry about these days! Now there are major concerns about the drywall in their houses. Hundreds of people living in houses and condominiums built during the housing boom between 2003 and 2007 say that the drywall in their house stinks like rotten eggs – and the gases being given off are destroying their home’s copper wiring and eating away the coils in their air conditioning units. In some cases, people say that the gases have tarnished their jewelry, even the cutlery is being affected. Is this for real? Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: chinese drywall, defective drywall
Posted in Defective Products | No Comments »