Illinois Mary E. Smith Foundation – Providing the Public With Information on Brain Tumors

When perusing Chicago and Illinois lawyer websites it is common to encounter pages listing the firm’s successes, particularly if it involves large verdicts and big settlements. The purpose of this seems to be to motivate those browsing the web page to contact the lawyer or law firm and become future clients with success stories.

Yet these success stories often fail to recognize the families who suffered so much and rose to new heights in their devotion to correct the wrongdoing. For example, in the medical malpractice case of Mary Smith I represented the family members who were aggrieved to have lost a loved one in a tragic and unnecessary manner.

Mary Smith was diagnosed with a benign brain tumor in September 2003. However, soon thereafter her condition worsened resulting in the unexpected death of the 50 year-old mother of four, a recent grandmother, and a wife for over 30 years.

From the very first contact I had with the Smith family they were focused on setting up a foundation to educate people about brain tumors. They have fulfilled this dream in the form of the Mary E. Smith Foundation, a not-for-profit organization set up to alert the public about brain tumors, advances in medicine, and health tips for those in need. In addition to providing information the foundation also provides financial assistance for medical screening, grants for research in the field of brain tumors, and scholarships for students excelling in math and science.


The Mary E. Smith Foundation was funded with proceeds from the settlement the Smith family won for Mrs. Smith’s medical malpractice lawsuit. And while Kreisman Law Offices ultimately obtained the Smith’s settlement, the Smith family’s dedication and devotion to Mary Smith’s memory was equally important.

This hard work, ingenuity and determination on the part of the Smith family was instrumental in the creation of the Mary E. Smith Foundation. The purpose of the foundation is to provide resources in the early detection and prevention of brain tumors. It provides scholarships and information about brain tumors. There is little or no mention of the praise deserved by the Smith family members who have devoted their time and money to creating this foundation.

But one should heap as much praise as possible on the family of Mary E. Smith for creating www.maryesmithfoundation.org and the foundation to help others who may get the help that Mary missed. The Foundation honors Mary Smith while also helping others to be safe and decrease the likelihood of future exposures to medical negligence related to brain tumors.

Kreisman Law Offices has been handling Cook County medical malpractice cases in areas throughout Chicago and Illinois such as Hoffman Estates, Bolingbrook, and Oak Lawn.