ALTON, Illinois – Simmons Hanly Conroy,, one of the nation’s leading mass tort and product liability law firms, is pleased to announce firm Chairman John Simmons, Managing Shareholder Michael J. Angelides, Senior Shareholder Perry J. Browder, Co-Chair of the Complex Litigation Department Trent B. Miracle, Of Counsel Ted N. Gianaris, and Shareholders Randy S. Cohn, Brian J. Cooke, John J. Foley and Jo Anna Pollock have been named 2022 Illinois Super Lawyers. In addition, Shareholders Eric Johnson and Brendan A. Smith were recognized as 2022 Illinois Rising Stars.
Only the top 5 percent of lawyers in Illinois are named Super Lawyers. No more than 2.5 percent of lawyers in the state are selected as Rising Stars, who must be no older than 40 and have been in practice 10 years or less.
Illinois Super Lawyers
Recognized in the Personal Injury Products: Plaintiff practice area, John Simmons makes the list for the 10th consecutive year. Simmons is chairman of the firm, which he founded in 1999 with a focus on asbestos litigation. He has overseen some of the largest verdicts and settlements in the history of asbestos litigation and continues to lead from the firm’s Alton headquarters. Simmons received his J.D. from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law and his bachelor’s degree from Southern Illinois University.
As Managing Shareholders, Michael Angelides oversees the firm’s asbestos, pharmaceutical, environmental, personal injury and other mass tort and class action practices. He is based in the firm’s Alton office and has been recognized as an Illinois Super Lawyer since 2016 in the Personal Injury Products: Plaintiff practice area. Angelides earned his J.D. from Saint Louis University School of Law and his Bachelor of Arts from Kenyon College.
Also recognized in the Personal Injury Products: Plaintiff practice area, Perry Browder has been named an Illinois Super Lawyer since 2011. A senior Shareholder, Browder has been integral to developing the firm’s national reputation in asbestos litigation. He currently serves on the Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI) Board of Directors. Browder received his J.D. from Valparaiso University School of Law and his Bachelor of Science from Bradley University.
On the list for the second consecutive year in the Personal Injury Products: Plaintiff practice area, Trent Miracle is Shareholder in the Alton office. He developed and leads the firm’s Pharmaceutical Litigation Group, which has secured hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements for thousands of people harmed by dangerous drugs and defective medical devices. Miracle has been appointed by federal judges to serve on plaintiff steering committees for several high-profile multidistrict litigations, including serving as the co-lead of the Testosterone Replacement Therapy Products Liability Litigation MDL. Miracle received his J.D. from St. Mary’s University School of Law and his Bachelor of Arts from DePauw University.
Ted Gianaris, included in the Personal Injury General: Plaintiff practice area, has been on the list for three years. As special counsel for access to justice, Gianaris coordinates the firm’s pro bono efforts to ensure those who need help most receive it. Previously, he was a Shareholder at the firm and helped form the Diversity and Inclusion Committee. Gianaris received his J.D. from the Southern Illinois University School of Law.
Randy Cohn has been listed as a Super Lawyer since 2015 and was previously named a Rising Star from 2012-2014. In 2020, he also was named to the Top 100: Illinois Super Lawyer list. Recognized in the Personal Injury Products: Plaintiff practice area, he oversees a team of attorneys and investigators with an exclusive focus on helping victims of asbestos exposure. Cohn received his J.D. from the Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago-Kent College of Law and his Bachelor of Arts from Indiana University.
Recognized as a Super Lawyer since 2016, specifically in the Personal Injury Products: Plaintiff practice area, Brian Cooke helps victims of mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases. He oversees a team of attorneys and investigators who have secured millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements on behalf of firm clients nationwide. Previously, he served two tours of duty with the U.S. Marine Corps, for which he was a prosecutor and company commanding officer. During his final year of active duty, he served in Baghdad as a legal adviser to the Iraqi Ministry of Justice. Cooke received his J.D. from the University of Missouri Columbia School of Law and his Bachelor of Science from Spring Hill College.
John Foley is being recognized as a Super Lawyer for the fourth consecutive year in the Personal Injury Products: Plaintiff practice area, after being previously honored as a Rising Star from 2013-2016. Representing victims harmed by dangerous pharmaceutical drugs, Foley fills a key leadership role in the Pharmaceutical Litigation Department, which has secured hundreds of millions in verdicts and settlements for consumers harmed by dangerous drugs and medical devices. Foley received his J.D. from St. Louis University School of Law and his Bachelor of Science from Missouri State University.
Jo Anna Pollock debuts on the Illinois Super Lawyers list in 2022 in the Environmental Litigation practice area. A Shareholder in the firm’s Complex Litigation Department, Pollock focuses on class actions, sexual abuse, pharmaceutical and environmental litigation. She recently has been an integral part of the litigation against the pharmaceutical industry’s improper promotion and distribution of prescription opioid medications. Settlements totaling more than $1.7 billion have provided recoveries for Suffolk and Nassau counties, the state of New York and numerous other New York counties the firm represents. Pollock received her J.D. from Saint Louis University and her Bachelor of Arts from Lindenwood University.
Illinois Rising Stars
Eric Johnson makes the Rising Stars list for the fifth year, this time in the Class Action practice area. With an extensive background in biology, biochemistry, and public health, he represents individuals who have been injured by dangerous drugs and defective medical devices. He also litigates class action and mass tort cases. He received his J.D. from St. Louis University School of Law, his master’s degree in public health from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and his Bachelor of Arts from Augustana College.
Also recognized in Super Lawyers’ Class Action practice area, Brendan Smith returns to the Rising Stars list for the third consecutive year. A member of the Complex Litigation Department, Smith’s primary focus is on pharmaceutical, medical device and sexual abuse litigation. He has represented more than a thousand injured clients in federal and state mass tort proceedings and helped secure hundreds of millions of dollars in restitution. Smith received his J.D. from St. Louis University School of Law and his Bachelor of Arts from DePauw University.
Each year, Super Lawyers recognizes the top lawyers from more than 70 practice areas in the state via a selection process that includes independent research, peer nominations, and peer evaluations. Attorneys cannot nominate themselves and cannot pay to be included on the list. The Illinois Super Lawyers and Rising Stars lists are published in Illinois Super Lawyers Magazine and Chicago Magazine, as well as distributed to attorneys and ABA-accredited law school libraries. For more information, visit www.superlawyers.com.
