Moving Beyond the Billable Hour

When hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake and your company is on the line, Simon Law Attorney Tony Simon has some advice for you: ask other lawyers in town who should handle your case.

“You’ll get one answer: Simon Law,” said Simon, who founded the Business Litigation Team at Simon Law more than 20 years ago.

In 2025 alone, Simon Law secured business litigation verdicts of $109 million and $55.4 million. Missouri Lawyers Media ranked the cases as the top verdicts in the state.

“Our fees are based on our results,” Simon said. “That’s because we handle business litigation cases on a contingency fee basis. We devote substantial resources to each case so we are very selective in the cases we handle.

“One non-negotiable is that our interests and our clients’ interest are 100% aligned. This structure means we only do well if our clients do well. That’s the best incentive ever to achieve great results for our clients.”

Surprisingly, for most businesses, hourly billing still feels like the only option for serious litigation. You hire a firm, and the meter starts running. This is standard procedure regardless of whether the case is moving the needle forward for the company.

“In an hourly model, a case that drags on can generate more fees than a case that resolves quickly and successfully,” said Attorney Jer Nixon, a member of Simon Law’s Business Litigation team. “That’s the opposite of how most businesses think about performance in any other metric.

“All the time and money we spend on the front end of a case is on us and stays on us if we don’t win the case, so the motivation to win big and avoid delay is built into our fee structure.”

Contingency arrangements are especially valuable in cases involving significant damages. These include breach of contract, fraud, Intellectual property infringement, and unfair competition cases including antitrust violations, and other business misconduct.

Simon Law’s business litigation attorneys also come with some of the highest recognition and honors in their respective fields.

Tony Simon has been named Lawyer of the Year for Bet-The-Company Litigation in 2025 by Best Lawyers in America. He has been named to the Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers® every year since 2010 and has also been the St. Louis Patent Litigation Lawyer of the Year by U.S. News Best Lawyers in America® four years in a row. Tony Simon is also rated as an AV Preeminent Attorney by Martindale-Hubbell.

Nixon was a member of the team that secured the largest-ever settlement in a class action case under the California Invasion of Privacy Act. Missouri Lawyers Media named Nixon among its Up & Coming honorees in 2025 and Best Lawyers named Nixon among its Ones to Watch in America honorees for 2026.

“One of the costliest things someone can do is hire the wrong lawyer,” Simon said. “We’ve seen business owners come to us after other attorneys have fumbled their cases.

“If I had a case worth $80 million, I wouldn’t want just anyone to work on it. I would want someone with the experience, results and reputation as the best for the job. That’s what we’re known for here at Simon Law.”

Just ask around.