Shareholders John Simmons, Perry Browder, Derek Brandt Named 2014 Illinois Super Lawyer List
Simmons Hanly Conroy LLC, a national litigation firm, is pleased to announce three of its attorneys have been named to the Illinois Super Lawyers list as top attorneys for 2014. Chairmen John Simmons and PShareholders Perry Browder and Derek Brandt have been selected as Illinois Super Lawyers. No more than 5 percent of Illinois lawyers are selected for inclusion as Super Lawyers.
Simmons makes the list in Personal Injury – Products: Plaintiff for the third year. He is also ranked as one of the Top 100 Trial Lawyers by the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association. Simmons founded the firm in 1999 with eight employees and a focus on asbestos litigation. Under his leadership the firm has grown to more than 200 employees, including more than 60 attorneys, with offices in Alton, St. Louis, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Today the firm’s practice areas include mesothelioma, dangerous drugs and devices, environmental law, consumer protection, commercial litigation, intellectual property infringement and personal injury.
Browder has been named a Super Lawyer in the area of Personal Injury – Products: Plaintiff for the fourth consecutive year. He oversees the firm’s asbestos litigation group and has represented victims of asbestos exposure in hundreds of mesothelioma lawsuits. He has successfully recovered millions of dollars on behalf his clients, including a $250 million verdict against U.S. Steel, the largest verdict of its kind in U.S. history. He is a member of the Multi-Million Dollar Advocate Forum.
Brandt was ranked as a Super Lawyer in the following areas: Class Action/Mass Torts, Business Litigation and Environmental Litigation. This year marks his third year for inclusion. He heads the firm’s complex litigation group, representing businesses and individuals in matters of consumer protection, intellectual property infringement, competition, contract actions, fraud actions and other business torts. Brandt’s representations have ranged from a small innovative medical device manufacturer to a multinational Fortune 100 company with market capitalization in excess of $50 billion.
Super Lawyers, a Thomson Reuters business, is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The annual selections are made using a rigorous multi-phased process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, an independent research evaluation of candidates, and peer reviews by practice area.
The complete ranking of the 2014 Illinois Super Lawyers will appear in the February edition of the magazine. For more information, visit www.superlawyers.com.
