Simonson, John S.

John Simmons founded the Simmons Firm in 1999 with seven employees and a focus on asbestos litigation. Under his leadership, the firm has expanded to more than 200 employees, including nearly 60 attorneys, spread between four offices in Alton, St. Louis, Chicago and Los Angeles.

John has overseen some of the biggest verdicts and settlements in the history of asbestos litigation. The firm’s first trial involved a roofer and former Shell Oil employee diagnosed with mesothelioma. John helped secure a $34.1 million jury verdict, then considered one of the largest jury verdicts in the history of the litigation. That record stood for only a short while before the firm obtained a $250 million verdict on behalf of an Indiana steelworker.

The firm’s track record of success continues today, not only in mesothelioma litigation, but also in toxic tort, pharmaceutical, commercial, intellectual property and personal injury litigation. Since that first case, the firm has recovered more than $4 billion in settlements and verdicts for thousands of clients nationwide under John’s leadership.

Following high school, John married his high school sweetheart and joined the Army. After serving as a combat engineer for two years, he returned home to East Alton to work with his father building houses. John’s father inspired him to become a lawyer and, within months, he enrolled at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville as a political science major. He graduated a short time later with honors and went on to earn his J.D. from Southern Methodist University School of Law in Dallas while working part time representing non-profit organizations and churches.

In 2006, following the early success of the firm, John was recognized by the St. Louis Business Journal as one of St. Louis’ 40 Under 40. The award honors 40 early achievers based on accomplishments in their careers and work in the St. Louis Community. He has also been selected as one of 40 Illinois Attorneys Under the Age of 40 to Watch, according to the Chicago Lawyer Magazine and is rated as one of the Top 100 Trial Lawyers.

John recently received an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell. An AV rating, which identifies a lawyer with very high to preeminent legal ability, is a prestigious peer-reviewed analysis of John’s expertise, experience, integrity and overall professional excellence.

The final piece of John’s vision of the firm as a national first-class plaintiff’s firm was realized in 2011 with the grand opening of its national headquarters in Alton, Illinois. The 6-story building consolidated the firm’s employees from eight buildings around the Madison County area into one central location, for the first time since the firm started.