When Opportunity Knocks

Patrick E. Foppe was raised to care for those around him, visiting nursing homes and helping his brother, who was born with no arms. So when opportunities knock, he answers.

“Opportunities are all around,” Foppe says. “When somebody asks, say, ‘Yes.’”

For example, if a commercial truck accident occurs on a Missouri or Illinois highway, Foppe’s phone might ring before the scene is cleared. For the leader of Lashly & Baer’s St. Louis Rapid Response Team and current president of the Transportation Lawyers Association, answering crash-related calls is one of the most fulfilling parts of his job. 

“I’m helping somebody out on their worst day. It’s more of a camp counselor role than anything,” he says. “We’re there for legal reasons—to put a privilege around the investigation—but we’re also there to reassure the driver, calm them down, make sure they have a place to stay that night. Beyond all the briefs and the papers, there’s always a human element to it.” 

Outside of his practice, Foppe finds fulfillment volunteering for the St. Louis Area Foodbank’s Food On The Move program, which distributes healthy food to needy Illinoisans and Missourians. He’s been helping out monthly at the Washington Park, Illinois, location since 2023, which sits across the river from the Lashly & Baer office.

“I carry people’s grocery bags to their cars. … I was looking for an opportunity to give back to the community, and it’s a wonderful place that’s convenient to volunteer at,” he says. “They have online portals to sign up on, and it’s very conducive to my schedule, as well. It was something where I could get away from work for two hours, go do, and get back to work.” 

Another opportunity came in 2018, when a fellow attorney sought Foppe’s help in educating the public on how to responsibly dispose of opioids. At the time, Dr. Susan Mackinnon, of Washington University’s School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital, had identified a problem: Families had few options for getting rid of leftover prescriptions, allowing for the drugs to, Foppe says, potentially fall into the wrong hands. So, with Foppe on board as founding director, the National Zip-Out Unused Opioids Foundation was born.

The foundation produced and released a brochure explaining that any unused medications can be placed in a zip-close bag with dish soap—which breaks down the pills—and then disposed of safely. Ultimately, the guidance was published in medical journals, leading the team to wrap up the foundation this year.

“The foundation reached its goal of making people aware of the need to get rid of their opioids safely,” Foppe says. “The government stepped up to offer more channels for people to safely dispose of them—drop boxes and things that didn’t exist eight years ago.”

Foppe’s passion for helping others has reached beyond both community and country. In April 2015, he worked with the Sisters of Mercy in St. Louis to lead a group of volunteers on a service trip to Guyana. There, they visited St. John Bosco Orphanage and the David Rose Special School. “It was a mission of presence,” he says, recalling the impact the visit had on the children they met—particularly one girl named Rose. “She was just so happy someone cared enough to show up and visit her.”

Often asked how he makes time for it all—his legal career, the volunteer work, and raising seven children with his wife, Katie—Foppe says: “I’m very grateful for the profession giving me the means and the opportunities to be able to give back. I think we’re very, very lucky to be lawyers. Fundamentally, the law profession is about justice. Whether you’re helping a kid out at an orphanage, doing an opioid education program or giving out food, helping others is just another form of that justice.”