Sims, Benham J.

When John Simon was a boy growing up in St. Louis, he spent many weekends and summer vacation days working at his father's fruit and vegetable stand at the Farmers' Market in Soulard. It meant getting up long before sunlight and working until dark.

Simon's father, an immigrant from Lebanon, insisted that all ten of his children pitch in to guarantee the produce stand's success. Three of them, Loretta, John and Anthony, would later become lawyers. But even today, the produce stand remains a focal point for the family, a place where John Simon sends his own children to work for their grandfather.

That's because working at the produce market taught Simon the value of hard work; that persistence, dedication and determination are the key ingredients needed for success and that a group of dedicated people working together can accomplish great things.

Today, Simon not only puts those same principles into practice when representing his clients but they permeate the culture of The Simon Law Firm P.C., the law firm he founded in 2000. With those values as the foundation, Simon has been able to make a big difference in the lives of many people.

After Louis Brown was killed in a natural gas explosion, Simon was asked to represent Brown's family. Simon not only covered that 80,000 copper natural gas lines buried under St. Louis area homes were susceptible to corrosion but that the utility, Laclede Gas Company, knew of the problem. Simon settled the case for $8 million and Laclede Gas agreed to a state agency's demands that it replace all 80,000 copper gas lines.

Simon uncovered a hazard posed to firefighters when he was hired to represent St. Louis Fire Department Captain Mike LeBrun. LeBrun was fighting an apartment fire when his tank ran out of oxygen. The alarm bell that was supposed to sound before LeBrun ran out of oxygen didn't ring. He passed out in the burning building. Though he was eventually rescued, LeBrun suffered brain damaged because of the oxygen deprivation. The respirator maker, Mine Safety Appliances of Pittsburgh, agreed to pay LeBrun $6.5 million. As a result of Simon's actions, the company issued a nationwide advisory stating the air tank might fail to warn firefighters of a low oxygen supply.

When Randy Dorman was seriously hurt after a tire rim assembly he was repairing exploded, Simon won a $110 million verdict. Simon discovered that the manufacturer, Bridgestone/Firestone, knew of 185 similar accidents over the course of a fifty-year period.

Because of his work representing boxer Fernando Ibarra, boxing match sponsors in St. Louis now arrange to have ambulances readily available during matches. Ibarra suffered brain damage from a knockout blow delivered during a match at the Riverfront Regal Hotel in St. Louis. The punch caused a vein in Ibarra's skull to rupture, triggering seizures. An ambulance wasn't readily available and so Ibarra didn't arrive at a hospital until 45 minutes after the seizures began. He suffered permanent brain damage that ended his boxing career and the jury ultimately awarded him $41 million in damages.

In cases like these, Simon works with a group of dedicated professionals at his firm; lawyers, paralegals and administrative assistants who share his commitment to their clients - a team that continues to grow as the law firm expands.

In addition to working on behalf of his clients, Simon gives back to the legal profession. As a law student, Simon was a member of the Saint Louis University Law Journal. After graduating in 1986, he continued writing scholarly legal articles on a variety of topics: pharmaceutical litigation, jury instructions in cases involving injured railroad workers, and the application of civil procedure rules. Simon, who has an undergraduate degree in accounting, has also written articles on accounting malpractice cases.

As a highly-respected member of the legal profession, Simon frequently leads legal seminars, sharing his expertise on advanced trial advocacy, products liability litigation and bad faith litigation. The Simon Law Firm underwrites an annual trial practice seminar, donating all of the registration proceeds to Legal Services of Eastern Missouri. Simon is also an adjunct professor at Saint Louis University Law School where he teaches trial advocacy.

In the seven years since it was started, The Simon Law Firm has been named one of the "winningest" law firms in the country by the National Law Journal. The firm had the highest recorded verdicts in the state of Missouri for two years in a row. As of January 2007, the firm employed 10 attorneys and represents clients across the country. Yet even with its national focus, diverse practice areas and litigation success, both Simon and the firm he founded remain rooted in the fundamentals of persistence, dedication and team work, lessons he learned long ago while working for his father at the produce stand.