Do you know what is Peer Review?

Peer review is a process of subjecting an author's scholarly work or ideas to the scrutiny of others who are experts in the field.

Students who are applying for higher studies used to get one from their department head and send it along with their application.

The Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory is one of the oldest and best-known catalogues of lawyers in the United States from whom getting a peer review is considered to be highly prestigious.

U.S. citizens know very well simmons jannace & stagg, the respected law firm of America. The firm has achieved the highest peer review rating by Martindale-Hubbell, which rates legal ability and ethical standards.

Simmons, Jannace & Stagg, LLP, started as a general liability litigation firm 10 years ago. Today they are servicing many types of clients such as Bank of America Corp., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Kmart Holding Corp., Best Buy Co. Inc., Washington Mutual Bank FA, Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc.

As their reputation and high legal ethics grew, many small companies, municipalities and individuals, also started engaging their legal help.

Do you know how much was awarded in total to the September 11th Victims?

It was $7 billion.

The Compensation Fund was created by an act of congress shortly after 9/11 to compensate the victims of the attack. The Fund was designed to maximize compensation to the families of victims.

This is about the story of a woman, who lost her husband in that attack.
She must have felt grateful for the U.S. Government when she learnt that the contingency fees by attorneys representing the families were disfavored.

But her hopes were shattered when a lawsuit was filed in federal court by the attorney who represented her before the Victims Compensation Fund. The attorney sought $2,000,000 as a contingency fee. He filed suit in federal court seeking a declaratory judgment entitling him to his fee.

The victim might have heard about simmons jannace & stagg who appeared for Nancy Burpee, the victim of a referee’s ruling in Paralympics swimming competition.

When approached, they were willing to take up her case and immediately moved to dismiss the federal action, arguing that the Victims Compensation Fund did not provide federal jurisdiction for an action by an attorney seeking to protect his fee.

The federal court listened to several other valid points from them and finally stayed the attorney’s action and agreed that the Victims Compensation Fund did not provide federal court jurisdiction.

Do you know the injustice done to Nancy Burpee?

Wondering who is Nancy Burpee?
She is a world class swimmer whose dream was shattered when she was disqualified by an Australian referee at the Paralympics trial held in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2004.

Ms. Burpee set world records in the 50 and 100 yard freestyle at the trials held in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

She was determined to participate in the 2004 Paralympic Games ( a game for physically challenged persons)

But her dream was shattered when she was disqualified by an Australian referee on a procedural technicality, at the Paralympics trial held in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2004.

She immediately approached simmons jannace & stagg to take up her case and represent her. Ms. Burpee telephoned Kevin P. Simmons, a partner at Simmons, Jannace & Stagg, and asked the firm to defend her case and to have the disqualification overturned.

In addition, Ms. Burpee requested that the firm commence an action against the United States Olympic Committee requiring the committee to name her to the Olympic Team.

The firm collected several testimonials from swim referees from Canada and Australia.

They argued that the Australian referee showed bias against Nancy,
with an added comment indicating that the Australian referee did not want Ms. Burpee competing against an Australian paralympic swimmer.

Simmons, Jannace & Stagg also demonstrated that the United States Paralympic swim trials were not held in accordance with the paralympic rules.

The result:
But an independent arbitrator ruled against Ms. Burpee and declined to force the United States Olympic Committee to name her to the Paralympic Team.

It is time the athletes all over the world showed their united support to Nancy Burpeee by writing to the official bodies concerned and to other social service organizations.

Also the work and the spirit of the law firm represented by Simmons, Jannace & Stagg should also be commended.