Category: Business News

Legal Services of Eastern Missouri has hired three staff for the recently expanded Youth and Family Advocacy Program. The program addresses the needs of homeless youth and families in St. Louis City and County.  Program funding is provided by the St. Louis County Children’s Services Fund and the St. Louis Mental Health Board.

Emily Autrey, Social Worker with the Youth and Family Advocacy Program

Emily Autrey was hired as a Social Worker with the Youth and Family Advocacy Program. She has a Bachelor’s degree from Truman State University and Masters of Social Work from Saint Louis University. She is a former practicum student at Legal Services and has previously worked as a Case Manager at Our Lady’s Inn and at Almost Home.

Clarissa Jackson, Social Worker with the Youth and Family Advocacy Program and the Children’s Legal Alliance program

Clarissa Jackson will also work as a Social Worker with the Youth and Family Advocacy Program and the Children’s Legal Alliance program.  She was formerly a social worker with the Education Justice Program at Legal Services. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work from Saint Louis University and a Master’s of Social Work degree from Washington University. She previously interned with Wells Fargo Advisors and SAGE Metro St. Louis.

Elizabeth Larsen, Attorney with the Youth and Family Advocacy Program

Elizabeth Larsen will serve as an attorney with the Youth and Family Advocacy Program. She holds a J.D. and a Health Law Certificate from Saint Louis University School of Law. She was formerly Program Director with the Connecting Kids to Coverage Program at Legal Services and also served internships in the Missouri State Public Defenders Office and with the U. S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs and SLU’s Children and Youth Advocacy Legal Clinic.

About Legal Services of Eastern Missouri: Legal Services of Eastern Missouri has provided free civil legal help for low-income families for 62 years. In 2017 nearly 26,000 people in 21 counties of eastern Missouri received services from four regional offices. For more information, please visit www.lsem.org.

Easterseals Midwest wraps up its statewide 2018 Autism Conference Series in St. Louis Nov. 16 from 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. at St. Louis Community College, Bridgeton Campus. Designed for individuals, parents, educators, and professionals, the annual conference unites nationally recognized developmental disability and autism experts. 

The 2018 Autism Conference Series held events in Springfield, Cape Girardeau, Columbia, and Kansas City in October and November.

Dr. Michael Mohrland, keynote presenter, is a board certified clinical neuropsychologist at the Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders at the University of Missouri-Columbia. As a nationally recognized leader in his field, Dr. Mohrland will discuss how executive functions play a significant role in functional outcomes. He will share how understanding the assessment and treatment of executive skills in children-adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) holds promise for predictive and practical outcomes. Dr. Mohrland gives his keynote address from 9:00-10:30 a.m.

The rest of the conference is comprised of workshops. The presenters include:

• Lea Ann Lowery, OTD, OTR/L – An Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Occupation Therapy at the University of Missouri, Lea Ann will discuss common causes of picky eating in children with disabilities and discuss ways for parents and providers to improve their child’s eating habits. 
• Karen Cooper – Karen works for Family Advocacy and Community Training (FACT), a non-profit, family-run organization in St. Charles, MO. FACT provides Education Advocacy Services and Parent Support Partners to families who have children with developmental disabilities and / or mental health diagnoses. Karen, a parent of an adult child on the autism spectrum, will provide information about the parent’s rights and child’s rights when a child is disciplined and placed on an Individualized Education Program. 
• Jennifer Haughey, BA; and Randy Sanders, MA / BCBA – Jennifer has worked with Easterseals Midwest for almost 30 years in a variety of roles with the most recent as a Family Navigator developing plans for parents of newly diagnosed children and older children in need of support and services. Randy is a certified speech and language therapist for K-12 and a Board Certified Behavior Analyst who has more than 25 years of experience working with children and adults with autism. Their breakout session, “Strategies for Teaching Social Skills,” will cover key social skills, how to determine social goals, and provide strategies for teaching social skills.
• Ann Schad, LCSW; and Jen Hyde, BS – Currently 90% of individuals with autism are unemployed or underemployed. Over the next decade, half a million teens with autism will become adults. Ann, Easterseals Midwest Family Navigator; and her colleague, Jen, Supported Employment Manager, will discuss strategies families and caregivers can take to guide an adolescent or adult with autism to seek, find and maintain employment.
• Todd Gentry – A Certified Financial Planner and a Chartered Financial Consultant with more than 20 years of financial services experience specializing with serving individuals and families with developmentally disabled loved ones. He will discuss Missouri ABLE, (Achieving a Better Life Experience) accounts. 
• Jennifer Haughey – Jennifer will explain what the ASD is and how to support students with ASD. She also goes into the important and growing role paraprofessionals take in the education and care of a students with ASD.

To register for the Nov. 16 Easterseals Midwest Autism Conference Series in St. Louis, please click here.

Parents of children with autism who receive services from Easterseals Midwest and reside in St. Louis County are eligible for 2 free tickets. Tickets are $75 for parents who are non-St. Louis County residents. Tickets are $100 for a professional to attend, and with a group of 4 or more, tickets are $90 per person. (Online registration available for group rates)

Media Contact: Ann Marie Mayuga, 314.485.9499, annmarie@ammcommunications.com

About Easterseals Midwest 

Easterseals Midwest is a nonprofit organization changing the way the world defines and views disability by making profound, positive differences in people’s lives every day.  The organization employs nearly 2,000 employees delivering services to more than 4,800 individuals statewide through four divisions: Autism Services, Community Living Services, Early Childhood Services and Employment Services. 

To register for the Nov. 16 Easterseals Midwest Autism Conference Series in St. Louis, please click on the following link, http://www.easterseals.com/midwest/get-involved/events/autism-conference-series-2.html.

October is National Pro Bono Month and members of The Association of Corporate Counsel St. Louis Chapter (ACC STL), the pre-eminent professional development organization serving in-house counsel, provide pro bono legal assistance and volunteer not just this month but throughout the year.

The 2018 ACC STL Pro Bono Committee Co-Chairpersons and Board Members are Paula Finlay, AT&T Assistant Vice President-Senior Legal Counsel; and Patricia Duft, Medtronic, Sr. Legal Director.

“Each October, we’re reminded of the impact as attorneys we make on the St. Louis community throughout the year. As a chapter, our involvement is not for one month but throughout the year,” said Finlay.

“Our chapter members, for example, volunteer each month for the monthly Nonprofit Legal Clinics at Legal Services of Eastern Missouri. Members meet with prospective Legal Service clients for brief one-on-one sessions to respond to questions they may have on legal issues they experience in the formation or management of a business or non-profit. This work is gratifying because we are involved with helping someone launch a new business,” said Duft.

ACC STL members volunteered throughout the year providing free legal counsel and volunteering for non-profits, including:

• ACC STL volunteers work with Legal Services of Eastern Missouri’s Community Economic Development Program, whichprovides free business legal assistance to entrepreneurs who are starting or expanding small businesses that provide a benefit to lower-income communities that Legal Services servs and to non-profit entities that promote community development to benefit lower-income individuals.
• For ACC’s Community Service Month in September, more than 20 ACC STL volunteers, which included members’ families, donated more than 60 hours of time helping with everything from organizing a food pantry and painting to cleaning trash and assembling bicycles for children at Loaves and Fishes homeless shelter.
• On Halloween, ACC members will serve dinner to families at the shelter.
• For National Healthcare Decisions Day, held April 16, ACC STL members collaborated with Legal Services and ACC STL Gold Sponsor Husch Blackwell, to offer a pro bono clinic at the Family Care Health Center in the City of St. Louis. The same morning, volunteer attorneys participated in a free CLE on Pro Bono Lawyering in Providing Durable Powers of Attorney for Healthcare and Healthcare Directive Forms, followed by a three-hour pro bono clinic in the afternoon to assist low-income individuals in completing healthcare directives.
• In addition to the monthly non-profit clinics, ACC-STL members engage in one-on-one legal representation of Legal Services’ Community Economic Development clients for start-up and existing enterprises on discrete business law matters.

About the ACC STL:

The Association for Corporate Counsel of St. Louis (ACC STL), the pre-eminent professional development
organization serving in-house counsel, was founded in 1987. The St. Louis chapter has more than 600 members who represent more than 170 organizations. During its 30-year-history, the ACC STL has been recognized as one of the leading chapters in the country by its national association. In 2017, it received the Chapter of Distinction Award, where only 14 chapters worldwide received this honor; and in 2018, it won the 2018 Best Membership / Recruitment Award. To learn more,
please visit, https://www.acc.com/chapters/stlouis/.

Legal Services of Eastern Missouri has recently hired two new staff members for the Lasting Solutions Family Law Program.

Jessica Emery, Attorney

Jessica Emery will serve as an attorney with the program. She is a graduate of Washington University School of Law with a JD and an LLM (Master of Laws) in Negotiation and Dispute Resolution. She was previously employed as a civil and maritime litigation associate with Goldstein & Price, L.C. and is a former intern with Legal Services of Eastern Missouri.

Sammie Jurado, Crisis Intervention Specialist

Samantha Jurado has filled a new position of Crisis Intervention Specialist to assist victims of domestic violence and provide resources for their recovery. Jurado is a graduate of the University of Central Missouri with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Criminal Justice.

About Legal Services of Eastern Missouri: Legal Services of Eastern Missouri has provided free civil legal help for low-income families for 62 years. In 2017 nearly 26,000 people in 21 counties of eastern Missouri received services from four regional offices. For more information, please visit www.lsem.org.

On Tuesday, October 23, 2018, Legal Services of Eastern Missouri held a reception for donors whose support helped establish the Hon. Richard B. Teitelman Chair Attorney position at the organization, and to introduce Lisa J D’Souza as the attorney on this new position. The event was hosted by Legal Services Board Member John G. Simon at the downtown St. Louis offices of the Simon Law Firm, P.C.

As the Hon. Richard B. Teitelman Chair, D’Souza will work with a wide range of client issues, to provide systemic advocacy and litigation on issues that affect low-income Missourians statewide.

L to R: Dan Glazier, Lisa D’Souza, John Simon, Joel Ferber

L to R: Hon. Colleen Dolan, Doreen Dodson, Hon. Glenn Norton

Karen McCarthy, Erica Slator, Liz Lenivy, Jerry Dobson

Maria Perron, John Simon, Dan Glazier, Liz Lenivy.

Lisa D’Souza addresses the audience

About Legal Services of Eastern Missouri: Legal Services of Eastern Missouri has provided free civil legal help for low-income families for 62 years. In 2017 nearly 30,000 people in

21 counties of eastern Missouri received services from four regional offices. For more information, please visit www.lsem.org.

Catherine Estes, Social Services Coordinator

Legal Services of Eastern Missouri has recently hired two new professionals in the Volunteer Lawyers Program.

Catherine Estes has joined Legal Services as a part-time Social Services Coordinator with the Volunteer Lawyers Program. She holds a Master’s Degree in Social Work from Washington University, and a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Speech Communication. In this new role, Catherine will be available to clients and volunteer attorneys for social service consultation and referrals.

Melissa Zensen, Legal Services Coordinator

Melissa Zensen has joined Legal Services as a Legal Services Coordinator with the Volunteer Lawyers Program. Melissa holds a J.D. from Saint Louis University Law School and a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Missouri. She has practiced law in the St. Louis area for over twenty years, in the private sector and as an Assistant St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney. Melissa will place clients with volunteer attorneys and will work in all legal facets of the program, including monitoring cases and coordinating pro bono clinics.

About Legal Services of Eastern Missouri: Legal Services of Eastern Missouri has provided free civil legal help for low-income families for 62 years. In 2017 nearly 30,000 people in 21 counties of eastern Missouri received services from four regional offices. For more information, please visit http://lsem.org.

Maria V. Perron, Partner of The Perron Law Firm, P.C.

Legal Services of Eastern Missouri has elected Maria V. Perron (The Perron Law Firm, P.C.) as President of their Board of Directors and has added Andrea Stanley (Brown & Crouppen) as a board member.

Maria V. Perron is a partner of The Perron Law Firm, P.C., located in St. Louis County. She practices personal injury, medical malpractice and employment law. She is a 1981 graduate of Saint Louis University School of Law and has been a member of the Legal Services board since 2007 and has served as Vice-President since 2012. She is a member of the Missouri Bar, Illinois Bar, the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys and the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis. In 2013 she received the F. Wm. McCalpin Pro Bono award from Legal Services for her dedication to volunteer service.

Andrea Stanley, Associate with Brown & Crouppen

Andrea Stanley is an Associate with Brown & Crouppen in St. Louis. She is a 2010 graduate of the Southern University Law Center in Baton Rouge, LA and practices personal injury litigation. She is a member of the Missouri Bar, Illinois Bar, the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys, the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis (BAMSL), Member-At-Large of the Mound City Bar Association and is and current Chair of the BAMSL Young Lawyers Division. She was a 2018 recipient of a Missouri Bar Association-Young Lawyers Section Pro Bono award for her volunteer work.

Dan Glazier, Executive Director and General Counsel for Legal Services of Eastern Missouri noted that, “Maria Perron has been a leader for Legal Services for many years and will lead the organization’s growth over the next few years. Andrea is a rising leader in the legal community and we welcome her to the Board and look forward to working with her, as well, to expand services.”

About Legal Services of Eastern Missouri: Legal Services of Eastern Missouri has provided free civil legal help for low-income families for 62 years. In 2017 nearly 30,000 people in
21 counties of eastern Missouri received services from four regional offices. For more information, please visit www.lsem.org.

T.J. Hoeferlin, Principal, Assurance Services

Purk & Associates, the award-winning, nationally recognized accounting and management consulting firm, announced today the promotion of T.J. Hoeferlin, CPA, MBA, to Principal, Assurance Services.

In addition to Hoeferlin, Taylor Luetkemeyer, CPA, was promoted to Tax Manager, and Chris Murphy, CPA, was promoted to Senior Associate.

“We are thrilled to have T.J., Taylor and Chris move into the leadership roles. Each brings discipline, experience and creativity to their perspective roles, and are building a fantastic foundation for the continued growth of Purk & Associates to better serve our clients,” said Bill Purk, CPA, Purk & Associates Co-Founding Shareholder and President.

Taylor Luetkemeyer, Tax Manager

Hoeferlin will now oversee the audit and attestation practice of the firm.  Prior to joining the firm in 2016, he worked for ten years with Emerson Electric Co. in their internal audit department, and an additional eleven years in public accounting before that with a national St. Louis accounting firm.  His experience includes business consulting, and regulatory and financial reporting services for not-for-profits, employee benefit plans, and privately held business.

Luetkemeyer, one of the original Purk & Associates team members who joined the firm in 2009 when it was founded, will manage the tax compliance and consulting for privately held companies. Luetkemeyer specializes in all entity types and prepares tax returns for high-net-worth individuals, their families and estates.

Chris Murphy, Senior Associate

As a Senior Associate in the Business Services division, Murphy is involved with audits, reviews, compilations, tax engagements, and controllership services for clients in a variety of fields including real estate, homebuilders, construction, not-for-profits, employee benefit plans, service related companies and manufacturing and distribution. Murphy joined the firm in 2015 and earned is CPA in 2018. Prior to joining, Purk & Associates, he was an entrepreneur and restaurateur.

Founded in 2009 with headquarters in St. Louis, Purk & Associates, P.C., is a nationally recognized and award winning, independently owned accounting and management advisory firm that delivers a full range of tax, accounting, audit and consulting services. At Purk & Associates, our focus is to help our clients achieve more financial and business success. To learn more, please visit http://purkpc.com.

Legal Services of Eastern Missouri has recently hired three attorneys to provide legal assistance to low-income clients in eastern Missouri and promoted a fourth attorney to a new role.

Amy Kester has joined as a Special Projects Attorney to serve clients living with HIV/AIDS. The position is funded through a Ryan White grant from the City of St. Louis. Kester is a 2002 graduate of St. Louis University School of Law

Terry Lawson has joined as an attorney with the Consumer Law Program. He is a 2001 graduate of the University of Missouri School of Law. Lawson is Chair of the Missouri Chapter of the National Association of Consumer Advocates.

Margaret LaMore was promoted to Program Director with the Children’s Legal Alliance. LaMore has worked as an attorney with the program since 2013 and is a 2011 graduate of Washington University School of Law.

About Legal Services of Eastern Missouri: Legal Services of Eastern Missouri has provided free civil legal help for low-income families for 62 years. In 2017 nearly 26,000 people in 21 counties of eastern Missouri received services from four regional offices. For more information, please visit www.lsem.org.

Bill Purk, President

The TORCH Awards recognize businesses and charities that exemplify high ethics in their treatment of customers, employees and suppliers. Nine businesses and three charities are being recognized in 2018.

“BBB TORCH Awards recognize companies and charities that are committed to exceptional standards and high ethics,” said Michelle Corey, BBB St. Louis President and CEO. “These organizations have truly joined BBB’s mission of advancing marketplace trust in an exemplary way, and they are role models for other businesses and nonprofits in the community.”

Purk & Associates, P.C. is a full-service accounting, management and wealth management firm. Founded in 2009, Purk & Associates cites its dedication to serving and building the St. Louis community as a tenet of its mission.

“Our culture is built on unwavering support of one another no matter where you fall into the pecking order,” says president Bill Purk, CPA, adding that the TORCH Award validates these operating principles.

Purk & Associates, P.C. and other TORCH Award winners — along with two Student of Ethics award winners — will be recognized at the BBB TORCH Awards reception and luncheon at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 18, at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel, 212 N. Kingshighway, St. Louis. Author and consultant Tim Sanders will be the keynote speaker; Kevin Steincross, KTVI FOX 2 morning news anchor, will emcee the event.

About Purk & Associates: Founded in 2009 with headquarters in St. Louis, Purk & Associates, P.C., is a nationally recognized and award winning, independently owned accounting and management advisory firm that delivers a full range of tax, accounting, audit and consulting services. At Purk & Associates, our focus is to help you achieve more financial and business success. To learn more, please visit www.purkpc.com.