Posts Tagged ‘ Fanconi Anemia ’

Burg Simpson: Denver’s Tight ‘Knit’ Law Firm

June 20th, 2011. By BrendaC

Lawyers Giving Back looks at a side of lawyers and law firms 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’re talking with legal secretary Gina Clement of Burg Simpson…

Legal Secretary Gina Clement: “giving back…is really rewarding and makes me like working here even more.” 

It maybe isn’t what you’d expect to happen at a law firm like Burg Simpson, but then again it might be. A major law firm that engages itself in serious litigation is hardly the place you’d expect to find people knitting in the office lunchroom—but that is exactly what happens several times a year. 

The “Kaps for Kendall” knitted hat drive started six years ago when legal secretary Gina Clement was struck by the strength and courage of a young Denver, Colorado woman who was born with Fanconi Anemia (FA), a rare and often fatal blood disease. 

To save her life, Kendall Atkinson would have to undergo a bone marrow transplant. Unfortunately it meant losing her long curly hair—no minor inconvenience to a young girl just barely out of her teens. To cope with the hair loss, Kendall began knitting hats. 

Sadly, the bone marrow transplant failed and Kendall died at age 20. But the knitted hat drive continues and, through the efforts of the Burg Simpson knitters, it continues to raise money for the Fanconi Research Fund and provide warm fuzzy hats for individuals across the US who are going through treatment for FA or other diseases, like cancer, that might also involve hair loss. 

“At first I thought won’t that be fun, we will do something for charity,” says Gina Clement. “And when I met the Atkinson family I felt like I had known them my whole life. I absolutely love to knit and it’s a great way to do something for the community.” 

Burg Simpson has a deep and abiding commitment to giving back to the community and the firm has earned a reputation for contributing time and hundreds of thousands of dollars each year to a variety of worthy causes in the Denver area.  

For legal secretary Gina Clement it’s a nice break from some of the more weighty issues the lawyers and staff usually deal with. “It’s a chance to cool your head a little bit,” says Clement. “It’s just really awesome that everyone genuinely cares about giving back here. It is really rewarding and makes me like working here even more.” 

Gina Clement is legal secretary to attorney Michael Burg, founding partner of Burg Simpson.  

Tags: Burg Simpson, Fanconi Anemia, Gina Clement, Kaps for Kendall, Lawyers Giving Back, Pro Bono
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