 St. Louis Area Jay Summerville, an Armstrong Teasdale litigation partner and general counsel to the firm, has been elected chairman of MERS/ Missouri Goodwill Industries, Inc. for a one-year term beginning January 1, 2013. Mr. Summerville has been involved with Goodwill, the largest social service agency in Missouri, for about 17 years. First joining the board of Missouri Goodwill Industries in 1995, Mr. Summerville continued as a member of the combined board after Goodwill merged with MERS (Metropolitan Employment and Rehabilitation Services). Previously serving as chair of its strategic planning, finance and audit committees, Summerville has also been the chair of the board of the subsidiaries that run Goodwill’s sheltered workshop and its special set aside contracts for persons with disabilities. He also served as a board officer and member of the Executive Committee for the last six years. At Armstrong Teasdale, Mr. Summerville is a member of the firm’s Business Litigation practice group and focuses on commercial, banking, antitrust and intellectual property law. As general counsel to the firm, he guides his fellow attorneys in loss prevention; conflicts of interest; ethics issues resolution; and improvement, education and compliance with firm policies. Mr. Summerville received his J.D. from Washington University School of Law and B.A. from Carleton College. MERS Goodwill is a non-profit organization that sells donated household goods and clothing, using the proceeds to fund training and job placement programs for people with disabilities and special needs. It serves more than 40,000 people in southern Illinois and eastern, southwest, southeast, and mid-Missouri regions. The organization has 42 retail outlets and its 2012 revenue is expected to be more than $133 million. Over the last several years, MERS/ Goodwill has also developed creative new programs including services for the deaf and special training and services for abused women, persons with autism and youth at risk. Williams Venker & Sanders LLC in St. Louis was recently recognized as a “2013 Go-To Law Firm for the Top 500 Companies,” for their work in torts litigation by their client, General Electric. The list is limited to those law firms that Fortune 500® General Counsel rely upon routinely for the most critical matters. Williams Venker & Sanders was previously named a “2012 Go-To Law Firm for the Top 500 Companies,” by their client, Coventry, for their litigation work in labor & employment. ALM (American Legal Media), a leading provider of legal news and publications such as Corporate Counsel and The National Law Journal, manages the Go-To Law Firm rankings. ALM conducts annual surveys among Fortune 500® General Counsel and other leaders regarding law firms on which they rely for outside counsel. The 2012 feedback was summarized in the Ninth Annual Edition of In-House Law Departments at the Top 500 Companies. The guide published on December 31, 2012 and was distributed to more than 20,000 General and In-House Counsel. A digital version is also available on law.com. Sheena Hamilton, an attorney in Armstrong Teasdale’s Employment & Labor practice group, has been appointed Vice Chair of the Missouri Bar Labor & Employment Law Committee. Ms. Hamilton defends employers of all sizes in litigation in the public and private sector and handles all phases of discovery, trial preparation and negotiation of settlements. She is involved in cases alleging race, sex, age, religion, national origin and disability discrimination as well as wage and hour matters, wrongful discharge cases, and claims under ERISA and FMLA. Ms. Hamilton is also active in local bar associations and the regional community. Earlier this year, she was re-elected as a member-at-large serving on both the Women Lawyers Association of Greater St. Louis’ Board of Directors and the Mound City Bar Association’s Executive Board. Hamilton was also selected to be a member of the Regional Business Council’s YPN Leadership 100 for a second consecutive year. In addition, she serves as the Connections Chairman for the Gamma Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., a service organization. Ms. Hamilton received her J.D. in 2010 from Saint Louis University School of Law and B.A. from Tennessee State University in 2005. She is admitted to practice law in Missouri, Illinois and the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Missouri. Clark Law Firm, LLC, a firm concentrating in complex business litigation, proudly announces that two of its attorneys have been recognized in 2012 as SuperLawyers® by their peers. SuperLawyers® is a national rating service recognizing the top five percent of attorneys nationwide as chosen by their peers and through the independent research of Thomson Reuters. As the New Jersey Supreme Court found, “[The Super Lawyers selection process] is a comprehensive, good-faith and detailed attempt to produce a list of lawyers that have attained high peer recognition, meet ethical standards, and have demonstrated some degree of achievement in their field.… Suffice to say, the selection procedures employed by [Super Lawyers] are very sophisticated, comprehensive and complex." Steve Clark has been recognized as a SuperLawyer® for the fifth time and the fourth consecutive year (2005, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012). Clark is recognized in the field of complex business litigation. Tim McFarlin has been recognized as a Super Lawyers® Rising Star in the field of complex business litigation for the second consecutive year. No more than 2 ½ percent of lawyers are named to the Rising Stars list.
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