SimmonsCooper of East Alton will receive the 2008 John C. McAndrews Pro Bono Service Award from the Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA) on Friday at the organization's 132nd Annual Meeting in St. Louis.
SimmonsCooper lawyers have represented about 100 pro bono clients in the past year through an in-house program.
Its major focus has been on a guardian ad litem program and working with several organizations that provide legal assistance to veterans of military service.
Each attorney is trained in veterans' assistance procedures to volunteer with programs such as St. Louis Stand Down, which helps homeless veterans. The firm also developed a memorandum of understanding between the St. Louis Department of Human Services and the Office of Veterans Affairs.
The award is named in memory of Rock Island attorney John McAndrews, who chaired the ISBA Committee on Delivery of Legal Services and received a Harry A. Blackmun Pro Bono Publico Award from Prairie State Legal Services before he died in 1993 of cancer.
The 35,000-member ISBA, with offices in Springfield and Chicago, provides professional services to Illinois lawyers, and education and services to the public.
