Shareholders Jayne Conroy, Perry Browder Named “Lawyer of the Year”
Alton, Illinois – Simmons Hanly Conroy, one of the nation’s leading mass tort and product liability law firms, is pleased to announce Best Lawyers® has named 20 of the firm’s attorneys in its 2022 edition. Shareholders Jayne Conroy and Perry Browder were also recognized with the prestigious “Lawyer of the Year” award.
“Best Lawyers is one of the most highly regarded attorney referral publications, and it’s an honor to have so many of our Shareholders recognized,” said Chairman John Simmons. “Our attorneys give above and beyond to fight for our clients, achieving millions of dollars in settlements and paving the way for future justice.”
The 2022 “Lawyer of the Year” award are given to one attorney in each metropolitan location. Conroy garnered the New York distinction and Browder the St. Louis, with both recognized in the Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Plaintiffs category.
Conroy is a Named Shareholder and oversees practice areas in the Complex Litigation Department. Over 30 years, she has secured billions of dollars in results for her clients in mass torts, class actions, product liability, pharmaceutical and sexual abuse litigation.
Browder is head of the Asbestos Department at Simmons Hanly Conroy. During his 33-year career, Browder has helped numerous families secure hundreds of millions of dollars, including a $250 million asbestos verdict against U.S. Steel. He also played a key role in helping the firm develop a national reputation.
“Lawyer of the Year” awards are given to individual lawyers with the highest overall peer-feedback for a specific practice area and geographic region. Only one lawyer is recognized as the Lawyer of the Year for each practice area and location.
20 Simmons Hanly Conroy attorneys are named as 2022 Best Lawyers in the following practice areas:
- Michael J. Angelides (Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Plaintiffs; Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs): Managing Shareholder of the firm, Michael Angelides oversees the 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 a Best Lawyer since 2014.
- Nicholas J. Angelides (Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Plaintiffs; Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs): A Shareholder in Simmons Hanly Conroy’s Alton office, he helps direct legal strategy for asbestos and mesothelioma cases. His work has resulted in millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements for individuals and families.
- John A. Barnerd (Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Plaintiffs): Based in Alton, Barnerd is a Shareholder and member of the firm’s management committee. He has helped secure millions of dollars on behalf of individuals and families nationwide.
- Andrea Bierstein (Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Plaintiffs): One of the premier appellate brief-writers and oral advocates in the nation, Bierstein is a New York-based Shareholder who focuses her legal practice on pharmaceutical litigation, consumer protection class actions, commercial litigation and environmental law.
- Daniel P. Blouin (Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Plaintiffs): Blouin is a Shareholder based in the firm’s New York office. As a lead trial attorney, he has secured three of the top five valued verdicts in the history of the New York City Asbestos Litigation, including the highest. He won the largest 2019 asbestos trial verdict in California. He also recently secured his sixth win at trial in the past four years in a Louisiana trial. Through his career, he has won dozens of trials across the country.
- Perry J. Browder (Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Plaintiffs; Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs): A Shareholder in the firm’s Alton office and head of the firm’s Asbestos Group, he has been integral to developing the firm’s national reputation in asbestos litigation. He is currently serving on the Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI) Board of Directors.
- Jayne Conroy (Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Plaintiffs; Product Liability Litigation – Plaintiffs): A Named Shareholder in the New York office, Conroy oversees multiple complex litigation practice areas and has secured billions of dollars in results for her clients. She serves or has served on dozens of court-appointed leadership committees including the National Prescription Opiates MDL, DePuy Hip Implant MDL, and the Volkswagen Clean Disease MDL.
- Gary DiMuzio (Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs): A Shareholder in the Asbestos Department, DiMuzio has 25 years of experience representing plaintiffs in cases surrounding environmental and workplace hazards. As a lead trial attorney, DiMuzio has secured one of the largest asbestos verdicts for a living mesothelioma victim in Louisiana.
- Amy E. Garrett (Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Plaintiffs): A veteran litigator, Garrett serves as the firm’s assistant managing Shareholder in the Alton office and oversees the firm’s diversity and inclusion efforts. She litigates asbestos product liability and personal injury cases and has helped secure millions of dollars in results in courts nationwide on behalf of individuals and families devastated by asbestos diseases.
- Ted N. Gianaris (Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Plaintiffs; Medical Malpractice Law – Plaintiffs): Gianaris is a Shareholder and management team member based in the firm’s Alton, Illinois office. He has a national practice representing victims of life-changing injuries and toxic diseases, focusing mainly on prosecuting toxic torts caused by chemical and asbestos exposure, medical malpractice and catastrophic injuries. He also leads the firm’s Access to Justice practice area.
- Paul J. Hanly, Jr. (Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Plaintiffs, awarded posthumously): As a Named Shareholder in the firm’s New York office, Hanly managed the firm’s Complex Litigation Group and received a 2020 Elite Trial Lawyers Lifetime Achievement Award from The National Law Journal. He was named to multiple court-appointed leadership roles, including co-lead counsel in the national prescription opioid litigation.
- James Kramer (Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Plaintiffs): A Shareholder in the New York office, Kramer has secured millions for his clients. As a lead trial attorney, he has secured three of the top valued verdicts in the history of New York City Asbestos Litigation.
- Conard Metcalf (Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs; Product Liability Litigation – Plaintiffs): As of counsel in the Alton office, Metcalf has represented hundreds of individuals diagnosed with asbestos-caused cancers and other occupational diseases and injuries. He has taken more than 125 jury trials to verdict.
- Trent Miracle (Product Liability Litigation – Plaintiffs): Miracle, a Shareholder in the Alton office, developed and leads the firm’s Pharmaceutical Litigation Group. The team has secured hundreds of millions of dollars 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 the Co-lead of the Testosterone Replacement Therapy Products Liability Litigation MDL.
- Laurence Nassif (Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Plaintiffs): Nassif serves as assistant managing Shareholder in the firm’s New York office. He focuses his practice on asbestos and mesothelioma litigation, pharmaceutical mass torts, and other complex personal injury cases. His recent legal work has resulted in millions of dollars for his clients.
- Jo Anna Pollock (Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Plaintiffs): A Shareholder in the firm’s Complex Litigation Department, Pollock focuses on class actions, sexual abuse, pharmaceutical and environmental litigation. With more than 20 years of experience in trial and appellate courts across the country, she has been appointed by federal courts to serve as Class Counsel on behalf of thousands of people and has secured hundreds of millions of dollars on behalf of her clients.
- Justin Presnal (Appellate Practice; Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs): Presnal is a Shareholder in the firm’s Complex Litigation Department and works out of College Station, Texas. He has handled complex cases involving dangerous products, medical devices and commercial disputes in trial and appellate courts all over the country. Presnal serves as a senior member of the Law & Briefing Committee in the federal opioid MDL and also coordinates briefing and legal strategy on behalf of the firm’s clients in the New York Coordinated Opioid Litigation.
- Deborah R. Rosenthal (Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Plaintiffs; Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs; Product Liability Litigation – Plaintiffs): Working out of the firm’s San Francisco office, Rosenthal is a Shareholder focusing on cases involving asbestos litigation, sexual abuse litigation, personal injury and commercial litigation.
- Drew Sealey (Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Plaintiffs): An Alton-based Shareholder, Sealey represents individuals and families impacted by asbestos-related diseases. He has helped secure millions of dollars for his clients throughout the country.
- John Simmons (Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Plaintiffs; Product Liability Litigation – Plaintiffs): 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.
Best Lawyers® compiles its lists through peer-reviewed surveys of leading lawyers; attorneys do not pay a fee to participate or be recognized. The 2021 edition considered more than 10 million evaluations and recognizes over 93,000 attorneys in 145 practice areas.
