Lawyers doing good things: St. Louis legal community offers direct support to tornado victims

On May 16, a devastating tornado tore through Clayton and North St. Louis, damaging approximately 5,000 buildings and homes, injuring 38 and killing five people.

In the wake of this disaster, members of St. Louis legal community including Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis (BAMSL), the Mound City Bar Association, the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys (MATA) and Brown & Crouppen have volunteered countless hours to aid those who were impacted.

From offering direct legal aid, operating legal advice hotlines and delivering donations, St. Louis’ legal community has stepped in to the crisis zone to help with relief efforts.

Direct donations

Kat Maugh, the community outreach and events manager for Brown & Crouppen, said attorneys donned rain gear and partnered with the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis to distribute essential supplies on June 7.

“We have a lot of connections to North City, so we really felt that it was our duty to help how we were able to,” Maugh said.

Overall, the firm has taken part in a few larger endeavors, she said. In addition to assisting the Urban League with donation distribution, the firm donated 20 $25 Schnucks gift cards to the Buchanan Foundation and donated $1000 worth of items — including tarps, flashlights, toiletries and more — to Annie Malone Children and Family Services.

The firm also provided direct support to the family of one of their employees after their niece’s house was destroyed.

“We have spent over $1,000 in materials for the home, such as air mattress, beds in the bags, a TV, microwave, anything involving the kitchen, everything involved in the bathroom,” Maugh said. “The family has a six-year-old little girl. They’ve got lots of stuffed animals, lots of toys for her, lots of clothes for her, as well. The older son (…) he’s 24 and he has autism and all he missed was his iPad. He was really devastated about that, so we found him a refurbished iPad. So, we’re really excited for when the family gets their house finalized.”

Overall, Maugh said it has been impactful to see how St. Louis has come together to help the community and she encourages other businesses and companies to donate time and resources to those impacted by the tornado.

Accessible legal aid

Other legal organizations in St. Louis have taken a slightly different approach to aid and instead of offering material donations, are donating legal services and hours spent manning tables and hotlines for those in need of help.

MATA led a joint effort along with BAMSL, Legal Services of Eastern Missouri and the Mound City Bar to create and staff free legal clinics and a hotline.

“We participated in a door-to-door operation, where we went door to door and we answered questions that the residents have who are impacted by a tornado,” said Untress “Trez” Quinn, BAMSL’s president.

In June BAMSL partnered with KSDK and the Mound City Bar Association to staff a live legal hotline for three hours, answering questions from viewers on everything from insurance to FEMA resources.

Karen C. Nelson Warren, associate director of administration and community engagement for Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, said immediately after the tornado hit, the organization knew it wanted to offer assistance to the residents of North St. Louis. Already, the area is one Legal Services has historically provided a lot of assistance.

“One of the very first ways we’ve been involved is by working collaboratively to staff a legal assistance table at the Disaster Assistance Center,” Warren said.

MATA President Randy Alberhasky said the organization has been manning the table at the Chaifetz Arena.

“(We’re) just answering questions that people have related to the tornado, a lot of issues dealing with obviously, landlord-tenant type issues where the property has been damaged and (is) unlivable. Renters insurance, property insurance, mostly stuff like that,” Alberhasky said.

Simon Law Attorneys, including John G. Simon and Mary Simon, also worked with the organizations to staff the legal resources table.

Additionally, the firm provided victims with material support by donating a $10,000 check to the Red Cross of St. Louis during the KTVI donation drive on May 22, according to a statement from the firm’s spokesperson, Christine Byers. 

“Simon Law is currently hosting an internal donation drive, in which employees can buy supplies most needed for reconstruction in tornado ravaged areas,” according to Byers.

The most common question attorneys are being asked is whether a tenant has to pay rent on damaged or unlivable property as well as issues relating to how to obtain their security deposits, Alberhasky said.

“I did get a couple questions when I was there last Monday from renters that had insurance,” Alberhasky said. “Many of these policies also have a time period where they’re allowed to bill the insurance company for hotel expenses as they transition to a new place. So, the important thing in those cases is to document everything when it comes to damage to your furniture and everything else that you have is lost, and receipts for the hotel, stuff like that.”

MATA has staffed the table daily for weeks and is continuing to provide support even a month after the tornado hit. Additionally, they provide online options for residents seeking assistance.

Unfortunately, MATA was better prepared than many organizations in the area after it had to recover from the impacts of the Joplin tornado in 2011.

Alberhasky was on the ground helping with that effort as well and said it was a much larger operation than the one St. Louis is undergoing. However, that disaster helped MATA respond to the St. Louis tornado 14 years later.

“We formed a virtual response team so they have people ready to go when needed,” he said. “Having people on the team prepared to respond when needed, materials that we hand out to our attorneys, here at MATA and (…) we want to be there for Missourians when they need us.”

With the constant influx of those needing assistance and the long hours needed to staff the legal assistance tables, these legal organizations say their greatest need is more attorneys to volunteer their time.

“We are still in desperate need of volunteers for those clinics,” Susan McCourt Baltz, chief executive officer and managing executive of BAMSL, said. “We’ve still got the registration live on our website for people to sign up. We’re hoping to get more people to sign up.”

Baltz and Quinn said they are proud of how the legal community has come together to mount its response to the tornado. And, they added that this disaster has helped them prepare for the next one.

“I’m so proud of the organizations in the St Louis area for being able to jump to action quickly, to collaborate quickly, to come together for the clinics, the door to door, the hotline,” Quinn said. “I think the infrastructure is a natural built infrastructure, because this is about humanity. When we have a need and there’s a call to order, we respond. We showed everybody who’s watching how we responded. I think going forward, it would not hurt, and it’s something that I’m going to propose, that we do get together and have phone meetings with these other organizations and we put together something like an emergency response that all the organizations can participate in and we know exactly what to do.”