Cedar Rapids law firm Simmons Perrine, forced to shut its doors in the devastating floods that hit the city, is reopening this week in a middle school in the neighboring town of Mount Vernon. The law firm expects to take over much of the west wing of the middle school and plans to have as many as 75 people working there, the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Sun reports. Lawyers retrieved some materials in a 20-minute visit to their Cedar Rapids office on Saturday and will bring them to the new temporary offices. The firm reports on its website that floodwaters did not reach its permanent offices on the tenth through twelfth floors of a Cedar Rapids building, but lawyers are unable to work there. The firm, which also has an office in Iowa City, will have to leave its new digs by Aug. 15, since school begins the following week. Meanwhile the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Sun reports in a separate story that law firm Shuttleworth & Ingersoll will be operating at a temporary office at Cornell College. The firm says on its website that flood waters did not reach the fourth through seventh floors of the U.S. Bank Building where it has offices, but lawyer are not permitted to access the building. |