Posts Tagged ‘ Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation ’

Simmons Firm Lawyers Give Millions to Mesothelioma Research

April 5th, 2011. By BrendaC

Lawyers Giving Back 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’re talking with Illinois attorney Mike Angelides of Simmons, Browder, Gianaris, Angelides & Barnerd…

Attorney Mike Angelides: “Our lawyers see how this affects families…that is what has led to a culture…of giving back to this community.”

Holding the plaque The Simmons Law Firm received from the Mesothelioma Foundation are, from left to right: Gregg Kirkland, COO; John Simmons, Chairman & CEO; Michael Angelides, Managing Partner

The Simmons firm in Illinois is well-known for litigating on behalf of people whose lives have been affected by exposure to asbestos. The firm, you might say, has also been very willing to put its money where its mouth is, and over the last several years has pledged some $20 million to mesothelioma and cancer research. 

“I think all of us here would be very happy if we never had to see one of these cases again,” says the firm’s managing partner Mike Angelides. “I wish I never had to see a family go through the heartache and agony of having to deal with this disease. It would be great to find a cure and put this disease to rest.” 

Compared to other types of cancer, mesothelioma affects relatively few people and as a result attracts fewer research dollars. 

“It is an ‘orphan cancer’,” says Angelides. “Although it affects about 2,500 Americans every year, it only receives about 1/10 of one percent of all cancer research funding. We really see it as our moral obligation to help this community, because quite frankly, if we don’t help them, no one will,” says Angelides.  

Although it can be decades before the signs and symptoms of mesothelioma appear, even the slightest exposure to asbestos can lead to mesothelioma or another asbestos-related cancer. Those affected are usually people who have been exposed to asbestos at their place of work at some point during their lives. They can be pipefitters, or construction workers or factory workers—any worker whose job entailed working with either asbestos itself, or components or parts which contained the deadly asbestos fibers. 

There are few treatments and no cure for asbestos mesothelioma. The lungs fill with cancerous tumors and mesothelioma patients literally suffocate to death. 

“This is such a terribly aggressive cancer, fast moving, always terminal, very painful,” says Angelides whose firm has battled dozens of companies over the last 11 years to challenge their careless exposure of workers to asbestos fibers. 

“Our lawyers see how this affects families and what people suffer and what they go through. That is what has led to a culture at the Simmons firm of giving back to this community,” he adds. 

The Simmons firm recently donated $250,000 to the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation, a non-profit foundation that funds research and provides education and support for patients and their families. The Simmons firm is the Foundation’s largest aggregate donor and has given the Foundation a total of $2 million over the last decade. 

Through its own charitable organization, the Simmons Mesothelioma Research Organization, the firm has pledged or given millions of dollars worth of grants to US universities that do mesothelioma research including the University of Chicago, Columbia University in New York and the University of California at San Francisco. 

And in Springfield, Illinois, the firm donated $11 million to build the Simmons Cancer Institute currently operating at the Southern Illinois University to address and serve the needs of people with all types of cancer. 

The money comes in part from community-based fund raising efforts, but most it comes from the verdicts and settlements the Simmons firm has obtained over the last decade. 

The tradition of giving back comes from the firm’s founder. 

“This is the philosophy that our founder and current chairman, John Simmons, has had ever since he started the firm and he has really impressed upon us the importance of contributing and giving back to this community,” says Angelides, “and it has really been an honor for us to have been successful enough to do that.” 

Mike Angelides is a partner in the firm of Simmons, Browder, Gianaris, Angelides & Barnerd (known as the Simmons firm). The firm has recovered approximately $3 billion on behalf of hundreds of families affected by mesothelioma and other asbestos-related cancers. Mike Angelides is a frequent speaker at asbestos-related legal conferences.

Tags: Asbestos, asbestos_mesothelioma, cancer, John Simmons, Lawyers Giving Back, mesothelioma, Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation, mesothelioma research, Mike Angelides, Pro Bono, Simmons Browder Gianaris Angelides & Barnerd, Simmons Mesothelioma Research Organization, Southern Illinois University, the Simmons Cancer Institute, the Simmons Firm
Posted in Emerging Issues, Lawyers Giving Back | No Comments »