"What do you call 1,000 lawyers at the bottom of the ocean?"
Answer: A good start.
It's an age-old joke that points to the fact that it sometimes seems like there are just too many lawyers out there. Lawyer television ads often appear in succession on major shows and billboards covering every major city. All tout who is the best personal injury lawyer and why you should hire them. But in Houston, Texas, one personal injury law firm is trying a different approach—setting themselves apart by elevating others in the community.
"Lawyers spend countless hours promoting themselves." Says Paul H. Cannon, a partner at Simmons and Fletcher, P.C., in Houston. "Can you imagine how much good could be done if just some of that effort went to helping others?"
With this idea in mind, the personal injury law firm of Simmons and Fletcher, P.C., decided to use their existing website and their skills to promote local area missions. Meet Houston Missions started in 2021 as a zoom video interview webpage where Cannon would reach out to local missions leaders in and around the greater Houston and Katy areas and offer them a free video interview. The interviews last anywhere from 15-26 minutes where Cannon talks to the guests and encourages them to tell all about their mission.
"Many years ago, I was a missions project leader of a local bible study class. My job was to locate and coordinate opportunities for the class to give back and get involved," says Cannon. He quickly found that there was no central place where he could go to learn about all the opportunities to volunteer around town.
Now many years later, Cannon is a managing partner in charge of web marketing for the firm and saw the opportunity to fix what was missing. "Using what you have to serve a greater purpose is what we are called to do," he says. "It just took me a long time to figure out how."
In 2023 after someone complained to the firm about an advertisement the firm's streaming audio vendor had run on a controversial topic podcast, Paul saw the opportunity to expand. "The Simmons and Fletcher Local Missions Podcast is simply taking what Meet Houston Missions was already doing one step further," says Cannon. "Before someone complained about the podcast we had an advertisement on, I had never really even listened to a podcast and really did not know much about them," says Cannon. He saw it as an opportunity to expand to a bigger audience.
"There are so many opportunities to serve in Houston and I have met some truly remarkable people through the show. I feel like it's a better way to get what we stand for known—by elevating others."
Meet Houston Missions and the Simmons and Fletcher Local Missions Podcast can be found online at: https://www.simmonsandfletcher.com/meet-houston-missions/. For more information about the show or how to make your local mission a guest, send an email to info@simmonsandfletcher.com or contact:
Paul H. Cannon
Simmons and Fletcher, P.C.,
Injury & Accident Lawyers
9821 Katy Fwy. #925
Houston, TX. 77024
713-932-0777
