Legal Services of Eastern Missouri hosts For the Common Good Awards, honors local attorneys

Legal Services of Eastern Missouri held its annual “For the Common Good” awards ceremony on August 21 at the Missouri Athletic Club. The organization recognized 11 community leaders and partners who have made their mark on the St. Louis legal community.

During the organization’s luncheon in a packed ballroom of attorneys and legal advocates, Executive Director & General Counsel of Legal Services of Eastern Missouri Dan Glazier introduced the honorees, beginning with Bill Bay, who earned the agency’s Robert Walston Chubb Award.

“We’re not there yet, but for nearly 70 years, legal services have been providing holistic civil legal advocacy to hundreds of people in need throughout 21 counties of eastern Missouri,” Glazier said. “We stand with our clients, helping them and standing with them to navigate the challenges and legal obstacles low-income persons face on a day-to-day level as they strive to achieve what all of us want, a decent life for themselves and for their families.” 

He added that this year, LSEM won a landmark federal case regarding unlawfully withheld food stamps.

“This past year, as always, we’ve addressed many challenges our clients face after two years of litigation, legal services and our legal partners (…) won a federal ruling that confirmed Missouri unlawfully denied food stamps to eligible residents because of a broken call center in violation of federal law, constitutional law and several other elements of that,” Glazier said. “The result of this is going to be relief for so many Missourians who are suffering from food insecurity and food deprivation.”

Glazier also spotlighted the work of LSEM’s Neighborhood Advocacy Program as it transforms and refurbishes blighted and abandoned properties.  He added that LSEM has doubled and tripled its existing efforts in the community to combat the destruction left in the wake of the deadly May 16 tornado in St. Louis.

The first award of the ceremony was the organization’s most prestigious — and it was given to outgoing American Bar Association President and Thompson Coburn Partner Bill Bay.

“It hasn’t been the year I anticipated,” Bay said in his acceptance speech. “The attacks on the rule of law, the courts, the profession, legal services funding. The ABA has spoken and acted. So have many bar associations around the country. We have done these things, I think, because it’s more than just our commitment to the rule of law. (…) It is a calling. It’s not just a set of rules, it’s a promise. We stand up for principles that have served our country for 250 years. We stand up for those who need us the most, because the rule of law doesn’t defend itself; lawyers do and when it’s under attack, defending it becomes more than a professional duty, becomes a defense of the promise (…) that justice in America is available to everybody, not just the politically favored or the powerful. There may never be a perfect time to do something difficult, but there’s never a wrong time to do what’s right.”

This year’s honorees were:

William R. Bay – Robert Walston Chubb Award
Dorothy Lee Sneed – Hon. Richard B. Teitelman Award
National Center for Law and Economic Justice & Stinson LLP – Melton M. Lewis Equal Justice Award
St. Louis Public Library – Eddie Mae Binion Community Service Award
Helping Hand Me Downs – Eddie Mae Binion Community Service Award
Ryan Turnage – F. Wm. McCalpin Pro Bono Award
Michael R. Cherba – F. Wm. McCalpin Pro Bono Award
Lewis Rice LLC – Gerald R. Ortbals Law Practice Award
Gabriela Baeza-Stout – Hon. John R. Essner Young Lawyer Award
The St. Louis American – Media Award