Simmons Hanly Conroy Attorneys Named to 2015 Illinois Super Lawyers and Rising Stars Lists

Chairman John Simmons and Shareholders Perry Browder, Derek Brandt, Randy Cohn among 5 percent of Illinois attorneys to receive top recognition

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Simmons Hanly Conroy

Jan 14, 2015, 08:55 ET

ALTON, Ill., Jan. 14, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Simmons Hanly Conroy, a national complex litigation firm, is pleased to announce that firm Chairman John Simmons and Shareholders Perry Browder, Derek Brandt and Randy Cohn have been named to the Illinois Super Lawyers list as top attorneys for 2015. In addition, firm attorneys John Foley and Jo Anna Pollock have been included in the 2015 Illinois Rising Stars list.

Simmons makes the list in the Personal Injury – Products: Plaintiff practice area for the fourth consecutive year. 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 70 attorneys, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, St. Louis and Alton, Ill. The firm's practice areas include mesothelioma, dangerous drugs and devices, environmental law, consumer protection, commercial litigation, intellectual property infringement, personal injury and other mass torts.

Browder was named a Super Lawyer in the area of Personal Injury – Products: Plaintiff for the fifth consecutive year. He oversees the firm's asbestos litigation department 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.

Brandt was ranked as a Super Lawyer in the following areas: Class Action/Mass Torts, Business Litigation and Environmental Litigation. This year marks his fourth year on the list. He is a member of the firm's complex litigation department's management committee and leads the firm's commercial litigation practice. His representations have ranged from a small innovative medical device manufacturer to a multinational Fortune 100 company with market capitalization in excess of $50 billion.

Cohn debuts on the Illinois Super Lawyer list in the area of Personal Injury – Plaintiff: Products. Previously, he was on the Illinois Rising Stars list for three years. Cohn oversees a team of attorneys and investigators and has developed a unique focus on helping victims of Navy-related asbestos exposure. He has recovered millions of dollars on behalf of his clients, including a recent $2.86 million asbestos verdict against R.T. Vanderbilt.

Pollock was named an Illinois Rising Star for the fourth consecutive year in the areas of Environmental Litigation and Personal Injury – General: Plaintiff. She was the 2014 chair of the Intellectual Property Group for the American Association of Justice.

Foley returns for a third consecutive year as an Illinois Rising Star in the area of Plaintiff Personal injury: Products. Foley represents people who have been harmed by dangerous drugs and medical devices, including transvaginal mesh implants, Yaz birth control, and the diabetes medication Actos.

Only the top 5 percent of all attorneys in Illinois are selected as Super Lawyers. No more than 2.5 percent of all Illinois lawyers are named Rising Stars, who must be 40 years old or younger, or have been in practice for 10 or fewer years.

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 list of the 2015 Illinois Super Lawyers appeared in the January edition of the Illinois Super Lawyers magazine. For more information, visit www.superlawyers.com.

SIMMONS HANLY CONROY LLC is a leading national law firm in complex litigation and represents clients throughout the country on issues involving consumer protection rights, class actions and contingent-fee commercial litigation. With 70 attorneys in six offices across the country, the firm is dedicated to its clients and has pledged nearly $20 million to cancer research. Additionally, the firm focuses on intellectual property infringement, pharmaceutical injury litigation and toxic exposure. For more information, visit http://www.simmonsfirm.com.

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SOURCE Simmons Hanly Conroy