St. Louis (April 14, 2021) – The Association of Corporate Counsel – St. Louis Chapter (ACC STL) participated in the 2021 Street Law Program, a global, non-partisan and nonprofit organization through which local attorneys volunteer to educate youth about matters related to law and government. This year, the event was held virtually March 8-11 with 45 KIPP St. Louis Public School students and 11 ACC STL members who volunteered to lead the discussions.

Since 2012, the ACC STL Diversity & Inclusion Committee has directed the Street Law Program for the St. Louis Chapter. Street Law is a diversity pipeline program, designed to expose students from a local high school (whose students include virtually all racial and ethnic backgrounds underrepresented in the legal profession) to the practice of law in a way that will encourage them to consider legal careers and pursue higher education. Chapter members participating in the program, in teams of two or three members, teach an interactive session on an area of the law at the participating high school class.

“Street Law provides students with an insight into the legal profession which they may not otherwise have. The ACC STL believes it is important because this introduction provides students with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to understand the legal profession and how to advocate for themselves and others,” said Geoffrey Grammer, Chairperson for the 2021 Law Street Program and Corporate Counsel, Ameren Corporation.

The 2021 Street Law sponsor was Alaris (https://alaris.us/).

Contact:

Ann Marie Mayuga, AMM Communications
314.485.9499
annmarie@ammcommunications.com

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 550 members who represent more than 100 organizations.  The ACC STL has been recognized as one of the leading chapters in the country by the national Association of Corporate Counsel with having received the 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 Gold Level Award, and selected for the 2018 Best Membership / Recruitment Award. To learn more, please visit, https://www.acc.com/chapters/stlouis/.

March 9, 2021 (St. Louis) – The Association of Corporate Counsel – St. Louis Chapter (ACC STL), the pre-eminent professional development organization serving in-house counsel, held its 2021 Annual Meeting virtually by recognizing members for their individual contributions.

The 2021 ACC STL award recipients include:

Committee of the Year: Diversity Committee led by Committee Chairperson is Tamee Reese, Assistant Vice President, Senior Legal Counsel, AT&T. The Diversity Committee was recognized in October 2020 by the ACC National Organization as the “Most Innovative Diversity Initiative Program in 2019” for its Diversity & Inclusion Summer Internship Program. The committee founded the Diversity & Inclusion Task Force in response to the racial injustices from last year to help members learn, understand, and discuss topics of concern. The task force and committee worked together to provide programming and partnered with the ACC Mid-American Chapter to host three book club discussions for members from both chapters.

Member of the Year: Lisa Savoy, Assistant General Counsel, Equifax Workforce Solutions, is the 2021 award recipient. This award honors the Chapter member who has shown great dedication and service to the Chapter during the previous year. Savory was selected because of her leadership role with the Diversity & Inclusion Task Force. She was the first member to lead the first task force program, “8 Minutes that Changed the World: How I Can’t Breathe,” where she served as the co-moderator. More than 100 members participated virtually including the President of the ACC national organization in the open forum to discuss current events following the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery. She continues to be actively involved with the Task Force.

William E. Jaudes Service Award: James Scott, General Counsel, CRB, and former 1988-90 ACC STL president, is the 2021 award recipient. The William E. Jaudes Service award was named after Bill Jaudes, one of the original founders of the ACC STL. This honor, which is not awarded annually is given to members who exemplify dedication, leadership, and service. Schenk served ACC STL leadership roles including president and membership chairperson where the Chapter was recognized by the national Association of Corporate Counsel as Outstanding Chapter of the Year and achieved a milestone of surpassing 500 members for the first time in the Chapter’s history.

Brian Parsons, 2020 ACC STL President, and Senior Corporate Counsel, Centene, during the awards ceremony said, “Each member honored for the individual awards has contributed significantly to the growth of the St. Louis chapter. This past year was a challenge, and we had to react creatively and quickly to rethink how the Chapter would offer members programming, networking, and educational opportunities. The leadership and dedication of our members and the individuals honored with the 2021 awards have helped make the St. Louis chapter one of the strongest in the country.”

Contact:

Ann Marie Mayuga, AMM Communications
314.485.9499
annmarie@ammcommunications.com

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 550 members who represent more than 100 organizations.  The ACC STL has been recognized as one of the leading chapters in the country by the national Association of Corporate Counsel with having received the 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 Gold Level Award, and selected for the 2018 Best Membership / Recruitment Award. To learn more, please visit, https://www.acc.com/chapters/stlouis/.

ST. LOUIS (Feb. 22, 2021) – Legal Services of Eastern Missouri has received a $25,000 grant from Bayer Fund to support free legal support services for low-income families with children who need special education services to succeed in school. The services underwritten by the Bayer Fund grant will be used to support at-risk families and children living in North St. Louis County and will concentrate efforts on children attending schools in the Ferguson-Florissant, Hazelwood, Jennings, Normandy, Pattonville, Ritenour, and Riverview Gardens districts.

“This Children’s Legal Alliance Educational Advocacy Project funded by Bayer Fund helps both parents and children get the education needed to succeed.  This includes homeless families and children who, by federal law, are entitled to a quality education,” stated Daniel Underwood, Managing Attorney of the Children’s Legal Alliance Project. “This is particularly important during COVID when children may not be in the classroom,” said Underwood. “We are very grateful for Bayer Fund’s partnership to help children and families in under-served communities,” said Underwood.

For more information about the Children’s Legal Alliance Education Advocacy Project, or any of Legal Services’ programs, call 800-444-0514 or visit www.lsem.org.

###

About Legal Services of Eastern Missouri: Legal Services of Eastern Missouri has provided free civil legal help for low-income families for 65 years. In 2020, more than 30,000 people in 21 counties of eastern Missouri received services from four regional offices. For more information, please visit www.lsem.org.

Chris Wittich and Ashley Lieberman join Business Services team as Associates.

St. Louis (February 18, 2021) – Purk & Associates, P.C., the leading, woman-owned St. Louis-based accounting, and management advisory firm, announced today that Ashley Lieberman and Chris Wittich joined the firm as Associates in the Business Services Division.

In her new role, Lieberman will ensure that audit standards are met for client matters and will work with individual and business clients on reviews, compilations, and audits.  She graduated with a Bachelor of Business in Accounting, and a Master of Accountancy from Maryville University located in St. Louis.

Wittich will conduct audits, compilations, and reviews for clients in industries that include Department of Labor ERISA, manufacturing, not-for-profits, low-income housing, construction, employee benefit plans and labor unions.  He earned a Bachelor of Accounting from Mississippi State University located in Starkville, MS.

Earlier this month, Purk & Associates, P.C. announced that it merged with two local accounting firms with two principals from the mergers joining – Terry Knox, CPA, formerly of Dwyer Costello and Knox P.C.; and Dough Pleus, CPA, formerly of Pleus & Company, LLC.

At the same time when the merger was announced, Purk & Associates, P.C. hired Holly Breuer, CPA, who joined as Principal and Chief Operating Officer, and Candice Carter who joined as a Director.

Because of the mergers and addition of talent, Purk & Associates, P.C. estimates that 2021 revenue is on track to be $5 million, nearly $2 million more than 2020 revenues.

“The talent of our entire team is second to none. We are well positioned to help clients with all their personal and business tax, audit and accounting matters,” said Jennah Purk, CPA, President and CEO, Purk & Associates, P.C.

About Purk & Associates, P.C.

Founded in 2009, Purk & Associates, P.C., headquartered in St. Louis, is the leading, woman-owned, independent accounting and management advisory firm that delivers a full range of tax, accounting, audit, wealth management and consulting services, by providing high-touch attention to clients’ needs. The firm’s mission – Achieve More—allows Purk & Associates to focus on helping their clients achieve their personal and professional financial goals. To learn more, please visit www.purkpc.com.

Purk expands senior management team with Doug Pleus, CPA, Pleus & Company, LLC; Terry Knox, CPA, Dwyer Costello and Knox P.C.; Holly Breuer, CPA, and Candice Carter

St. Louis (February 16, 2021) – Purk & Associates, P.C., the leading, woman-owned St. Louis-based accounting, and management advisory firm, announced today that Pleus & Company, LLC; and Dwyer Costello and Knox P.C. have merged with them.

Doug Pleus, CPA, former owner of Pleus & Company, and Terry Knox, CPA, former partner at Dwyer Costello and Knox, join the firm’s senior management team.

“I’ve known Doug and Terry for years, and I have great admiration for their talents and the accounting firms they founded. When we started talking separately about merging firms, it was because each firm had unique strengths, similar core values, and strong client relationships. It all came together at the end of 2020 to merge their firms with Purk” said Jennah Purk, CPA, President and Co-Founding Shareholder, Purk & Associates.

Also, Purk hired Holly Breuer, CPA, as a Principal and Chief Operating Officer, and Candice Carter as a Director.

“I have known and worked with Holly and Candice for more than two decades. We are fortunate to have such talented, dedicated and energetic professionals join our team,” added Purk.

Because of the mergers and addition of talent, Purk & Associates estimates that 2021 revenue is on track to be $5 million, nearly $2 million more than 2020 revenues.

The firm has enhanced and expanded its tax, audit, accounting, and wealth management expertise for the following service lines:

• Department of Labor specific to Labor Unions
• ERISA Audits
• Healthcare
• Not-for-Profit
• Tax-Centric Investment Management
• Valuation and Calculation Services

The new senior management members include:

• Holly Breuer: Breuer works with privately held businesses and their owners consulting on topics ranging from day-to-day operations to complex business structures and regulatory issues. She is Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV) by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, which allows her to work directly with clients to value their businesses.
• Candice Carter: Carter specializes in bookkeeping, controllership, payroll, IRS and Department of Revenue representation, tax return preparation and planning for businesses and individuals. In her role, Carter is responsible for new business development and client engagement for the controllership and tax division.  Candice brings more than 20 years of accounting and tax experience.
• Terry Knox, CPA: Knox will work with the firm’s Audit department, performing audits, reviews and comps for a variety of clients including local unions, employee benefit plans, not-for-profits, and partnerships.  Prior to joining Purk & Associates, Knox was a partner at Dwyer Costello and Knox where he was a majority owner since 1985.
• Doug Pleus, CPA: Pleus will focus on taxation for small business services, and individual tax and consulting services.  He works with small and medium-sized businesses in a variety of industries, including healthcare, manufacturing and distribution, real estate, technology, and service businesses.

About Purk & Associates, P.C.

Founded in 2009, Purk & Associates, P.C., headquartered in St. Louis, is the leading, woman-owned, independent accounting and management advisory firm that delivers a full range of tax, accounting, audit, wealth management and consulting services, by providing high-touch attention to clients’ needs. The firm’s mission – Achieve More—allows Purk & Associates to focus on helping their clients achieve their personal and professional financial goals. To learn more, please visit www.purkpc.com.

St. Louis (Feb. 15, 2021) – Lakenan Insurance Group, a leading multi-faceted independent insurance broker that is part of the Sunstar Insurance nationwide network, recently announced that Dave Lamb joined as the National Property Director.

Prior to joining Lakenan, Lamb owned DL Insurance Group. He merged his firm with Lakenan when he accepted his current position.

In his role, Lamb leads Lakenan’s property insurance division working with property owners and managers throughout the United States to create customizable risk management solutions.  Bringing more than 15 years of experience, Lamb specializes in working with multi-state portfolios and has done extensive work with large frame portfolios, coastal properties, aluminum wiring, LITEC and subsidized housing, as well as shock loss properties.

“Dave is a well-known and highly regarded leader in the property insurance industry. He has extensive experience working with multiple types of properties throughout the country, and he possess the business acumen to help his clients succeed,” said Jason Spore, Lakenan Insurance Group Executive Vice President.

Lamb’s portfolio includes insuring more than 60,000 apartment and condominium units. He has worked on multi-billion-dollar property programs with domestic and international carriers. For his involvement with creating these programs, Lamb was named in the 2016 “Top 40 People Under 40” by Insurance Business America.

Lamb graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Marketing and Economics from Truman State University located in Kirksville, MO. 

About Lakenan

Founded in 1939, Lakenan is a multi-faceted independent insurance broker dedicated to providing the resources, products, and expertise serving clients throughout the country with reducing risk, securing assets, and protecting their futures. Lakenan maintains its headquarters in St. Louis, and with four offices throughout Missouri. The firm is part of the Sunstar Insurance Group nationwide network. To learn more about Lakenan, please visit, http://lakenan.com.

Legal Services Creates New App to Help Students & Parents

ST. LOUIS – The pandemic has drastically changed how students “attend” school, whether they are in-person, remote, or in a hybrid combination. Unfortunately, for some students and families, it is now even harder to access the education they are legally entitled to.

Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, through its Education Justice Program, has introduced the EdRights App to provide students and parents with easy-to-use information about their legal rights for school and education services.

In 2016, Legal Services of Eastern Missouri formed the Education Justice Program to assist families and students who were denied equal access to quality education as outlined by the law. This program helps families deal with school enrollments, special education assistance, suspensions, expulsions, and other issues that limit access to learning.

Nationwide, students of color are suspended and expelled at inordinately higher rates than white students. A 2017 ProPublica report found that Black Missouri public school students were 4.4 times more likely to be suspended than white students even though Black students comprise only 16 percent of all students enrolled in Missouri public schools.

“We found that parents and students need basic information about student rights,” stated Amanda Schneider, Managing Attorney of the Education Justice Program. “The easiest and quickest way to get information to people is through their smart phones and tablets,” she noted.  “Thanks to support from the Deaconess Foundation, we created the EdRights Appthat parents and students can access for free from our website,” said Schneider. The App can be used on a web browser or downloaded to a phone or tablet home screen for easy reference.

The EdRights App is free and can be found at lsem.org/edrights-app. For more information about the Education Justice Program, contact Amanda Schneider at ajschneider@lsem.org.

###

About Legal Services of Eastern Missouri: Celebrating 65 years of providing equal access to justice for individuals and families. Since 1956, more than 1 million people in 21 eastern Missouri counties have been helped. For more information or to get help, please visit www.lsem.org. Offices in St. Louis, Clayton, Union and Hannibal, Missouri.

Jan. 25, 2021 (St. Louis)  – The Association of Corporate Counsel – St. Louis Chapter (ACC STL), the pre-eminent professional development organization serving in-house counsel, recently elected its 2021 officers and board of directors.

The 2021 ACC STL officers include:

• President: Sven Fickeler, Bunzl Distribution USA
• Vice President / President-Elect: Kate Krebel, Leonardo DRS, Inc.
• Treasurer: Jennifer Herner, MiTek, Inc.
• Secretary: Beverly Garner, Bunge North America Inc.
• Immediate Past President: Brian Parsons, Centene Corp.

Sven Fickeler, ACC STL 2021 president, said, “One of the priorities this year is to continue to provide value to our membership with frequent access to quality topics and events in partnership with our sponsors despite the ongoing constraints and challenges caused by the pandemic. We have strong relationships with our sponsors who have been supportive in switching to all virtual events until circumstances allow us to resume in person events.”

“I am excited to continue the Chapter’s award-winning diversity program and am proud that we will again be offering corporate internships to students with a diverse background even if it has to be in a remote setting. Despite the pandemic, we will be expanding our internship program this year, which is a testament to our host companies’ commitment to the program,” added Fickeler.

The 2021 board of directors include:

• Advocacy: Jennifer Feldhaus, Centene Corp.
• Corporate Counsel Institute (CCI): Tyrus R. Ulmer, The Boeing Company
• Communications: Danielle Langeneckert, Ascension Group
• Diversity: Tamee Reese, AT&T Services Inc.
• General Counsel Forum: Kate Molamphy, ICL Americas; and Erika Schenk, World Wide Technology, Inc.
• Annual Golf / Spa Event: Anthony “Jay” Repaso, Mastercard
• Law School Relations: Pam Howlett, Bayer; and Margy Weisman
• Membership: Vikas Sunkari, SSM Health
• Practice Area Networking (PAN) – Labor & Employment: Toni Douaihy, Macy’s Inc.
• Past President Council Chair: Brian Parsons, Centene Corp.
• Pro Bono: Patricia Duft, Medtronics, Inc.
• Professional Development: Geoffrey Grammar, Ameren Services
• Programs: John Farmer, Charter Communications, Inc.
• Social: Chrissy Teske, Commerce Bancshares, inc.
• Sponsorship: Denise Whitener, Wells Fargo Law Department
• Director: Christopher Goddard, Washington University

In 2020, the ACC STL received the Gold Chapter of Distinction by the national Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC). The award recognizes the Chapter’s accomplishments in areas including programming, membership recruitment, and governance / operations. Also, the ACC STL received the 2020 Innovation Award from the national Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) for its 2019 Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) Summer Internship Program.

Contact:

Ann Marie Mayuga, AMM Communications

314.485.9499

annmarie@ammcommunications.com

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 550 members who represent more than 100 organizations.  The ACC STL has been recognized as one of the leading chapters in the country by the national Association of Corporate Counsel with having received the 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 Gold Level Award, and selected for the 2018 Best Membership / Recruitment Award. To learn more, please visit, https://www.acc.com/chapters/stlouis/.