Jay Summerville Elected Chairman of MERS/Missouri Goodwill Industries

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. 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, 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, 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.

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.