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Lewis & Kappes paralegal Sandy Wood has a full time job, a long commute to and from her home in Spencer, Indiana and two very busy teenage daughters but for the past two years she's found time to help a number of other children.

Wood is part of the Owen County Court Appointed Special Advocate program, known as CASA, and has advocated on behalf of 10 children since signing up in 2008.

CASA trains volunteers to advocate for abused and neglected children. Generally, these aren't children who are in trouble with the law: They are children who find themselves in the legal system as a result of neglect and abuse.

It's a CASA volunteer's job to step up on behalf of these kids. Each assignment involves getting to know the children and researching the case.

"You talk to the children. You talk to the parents. You talk to the therapists and school officials and anybody else involved with the child's life," Wood said. Throughout that process, she remains focused on what's best for the child she's assigned to help. Her presence gives that minor an advocate who will report how a child feels.

Currently, Wood is working with a total of five children ranging from the age eight to 16. She often gets assigned to children who have moved to Marion County although their court hearings take place in Owen County. While she isn't required to attend the hearings, Wood does, taking vacation time to do so.

Wood said Owen County's waiting list of children in need of advocates is long but not as long as the Marion County list of children in need. The work, she said, is very important. "You are the child's voice."

As Lewis & Kappes director Peter S. French winds down a term on the Penrod Society board of directors, he's lacing up to support another of his favorite causes - The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

French will run the OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon on May 8 as part of an LLS Team in Training. Since the LLS sports training program started in1988, teams have raised more than $1 billion for blood cancer research and to provide patient services. More than 400,000 walkers, runners, cyclists, hikers and triathletes have been involved with what's become the world's largest endurance training program.

French has tackled the Mini-Marathon before but this is the first time he's running for a cause. "I am completing this event in honor of all individuals who are battling blood cancers. These people are the real heroes on our team, and we need your support to cross the ultimate finish line - a cure," he wrote on his Team in Training website.

Go to pages.teamintraining.org/in/one50010/pfrenchwbm to learn more.

Lewis & Kappes is pleased to announce that Suzanne Robinson Gaidoo has been named director.

Gaidoo, a 2002 graduate of the University of Cincinnati College of Law, specializes legal matters pertaining to non profit organizations. She also practices in the fields of civil litigation and health care.

She joined Lewis & Kappes in 2002, after clerking at the firm during her third year at law school.

As an associate she concentrated on tax-exempt, federally qualified healthcare organizations. She now works with a wider range of non profits from start-ups to well established operations.

"It's easy to work hard when your clients are doing good things in the community," she said.

As a non profit's outside legal advisor, Gaidoo helps the organizations keep abreast of regulatory changes that could impact operations. "I am very focused on compliance and making sure each organization's board and staff have their ducks in a row so they can get down to the fun business of providing services and helping people in the community," she said.

Gaidoo's interest in the well-being of clients extends to her own work in the community. She's in her sixth year organizing Lewis & Kappes' Law Day program that exposes a select group of Indianapolis Public Schools students to the legal profession at its highest levels.

The 20 middle schoolers are selected from participants in D.R.E.A.M. Alive, a program started by former Indianapolis Colts Pro Bowl offensive tackle Tarik Glenn. The program has gotten so popular that participants are selected on the basis of application essays.

Lewis & Kappes' participation in the Law Day program is making a difference in these student's lives, Gaidoo said. One student she's gotten to know has improved her grades since her first Law Day as a sixth grader. She visited the firm again when she was in the eighth grade. "You ask her today what she wants to be and she'll tell you she wants to be lawyer," Gaidoo said.

Having the opportunity and encouragement to develop the Law Day program is what makes Gaidoo likes about working at Lewis & Kappes.

"It's important for the students to see somebody cares," Gaidoo said, of her colleagues. Everyone here really tries to make them feel special that day, she said.

Gaidoo was in Stanley K. Lacy Executive Leadership Series, Class XXXIII, was a listed an Indiana Super Lawyer Rising Star in 2008 and 2008 and serves on the board of directors of D.R.E.A.M Alive.

Thirteen Lewis & Kappes Attorneys Named Indiana
"Super Lawyers" or "Rising Stars" For 2009

In the 2009 edition of the annual publication of "Indiana Super Lawyers," thirteen Lewis & Kappes attorneys have been listed as "Super Lawyers" or "Rising Stars." The eight selected as "Super Lawyers" and their areas of practice are:

• Bette J. Dodd - Utilities
• Peter S. French - Business Litigation
• David W. Gray - Employment & Labor
• Gary P. Price - General Litigation
• Todd A. Richardson - Appellate
• Thomas R. Ruge - Immigration
• Steven L. Tuchman - Immigration
• John F. Wickes, Jr. - Energy & Natural Resources

In addition, the 2009 edition included a separate list of "Rising Stars," up-and-coming attorneys who are forty years old or younger or who have been in practice ten years or less. Five more Lewis & Kappes attorneys were recognized as "Rising Stars":

• Angela Adams - Immigration
• Sara R. Bradbury - General Litigation
• Suzanne R. Gaidoo - Non-Profit
• Marco A. Moreno - Immigration
• Jennifer Wheeler Terry - Utilities

According to the publication, only 5 percent of the attorneys in Indiana are selected as "Super Lawyers" and only 2.5 percent are listed as "Rising Stars." The selection process includes a statewide survey of lawyers, independent evaluation and research, and peer review by blue ribbon panels. As "Indiana Super Lawyers 2009" states, "The resulting product is a diverse and comprehensive listing of outstanding lawyers."

Peter French Nominated for Man of the Year

Lewis & Kappes director Peter French has been nominated for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's ("LLS") Man of the Year Award. The Man & Woman of the Year campaign is a fundraising competition among individuals in the community who vie for the honor of being the Man or Woman of the Year. Candidates are judged solely on a philanthropic basis. The 2009 Man & Woman of the Year will be named based on their success in generating funds for LLS during a nine week campaign which ends April 25, 2009. The candidates raise money in honor of local blood cancer survivors, the Boy and Girl of the Year.

The kickoff for the campaign was held at the Sanctuary at Nancy Noel's Gallery in Zionsville. Eight other men and women are participating in the campaign.

LLS is the world's largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research, education, and patient services. Its mission is to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families.

Lewis & Kappes director Jennifer Wheeler Terry is President of the Board of Trustees of the Indiana Chapter of LLS.