Twenty-four law firms in Missouri received loans of between $1 million and $10 million from the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) enacted by Congress in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to research by the Washington Post.
The loans supported nearly 3,000 jobs, according to the database.
Under the program, the loans can be forgiven if employees are kept on the payroll for eight weeks and the money is used for expenses such as payroll, interest on mortgages, rent and utilities, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration.
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“There are many legitimate PPP loans/grants that were issued,” Missouri Civil Justice Reform Coalition executive director Richard AuBuchon told the St. Louis Record. “For those who feared loss of their business, the PPP loan was the lifeboat they needed.”
AuBuchon did not apply for PPP funds for his own law firm.
“Given the criteria, I felt that my firm was not eligible for a PPA loan/grant,” he said. “ However, I cannot speak to any loan scenario for any other business because each business is different and any applicant must make their own affirmation that the business was eligible and that a PPP loan/grant was necessary to obtain.”
AuBuchon said there “must be accountability" for the tax dollars that were distributed under the program.
“For those PPP loans/grants that were illegitimate, the business will be subject to audit and whatever remedies are available under the law and there will hopefully be vigorous oversight and accountability regardless of business type,” AuBuchon said.
Armstrong Teasdale LLP in St. Louis accepted PPP loans of between $5 million and $10 million, which supported 424 jobs, according to the Post's database. The firm has a broad range of specialties from medical malpractice to class-action litigation defense.
Sandberg, Phoenix & Von Gontard, also in St. Louis, received loans in the same range that supported 295 jobs, the database said. The firm specializes in business litigation, health law and products liability defense.