During more than three decades of practicing law, John Simon has built a remarkable record of courtroom victories and incredible settlements for thousands of clients – oftentimes when the odds are not in his favor. The National Law Journal named the firm he founded in 2001 as one of the “winningest firms” in the U.S. In 20 recent months alone, John’s firm achieved four nine-figure verdicts totaling nearly $2 billion.
The firm now has more than 50 dedicated professionals, with a focus on plaintiff’s litigation including personal injury, product liability, medical malpractice, business litigation and class action cases.
John’s approach is simple: The client always comes first and prepare every case as if it’s headed to trial.
These principles have driven unparalleled success in the courtroom including record setting verdicts in multiple states. It has also inspired meaningful change across multiple industries and has helped Simon Law become known as the firm where cases become causes.
John’s verdicts have held some of the largest corporations in the world accountable for their misconduct and shined a national spotlight on critical, often ignored industry safety issues.
John obtained his first nine-figure verdict in 2001. He represented a man who was severely injured after a multi-piece wheel he was assembling explosively separated. John demonstrated that the wheel design had a decades-long history of similar separations and uncovered corporate documents showing that the manufacturer knew about the dangerous design of its product for years. The jury awarded John’s client $105 million.
John represented the family of a man who was killed by a natural gas explosion which occurred while he was lighting his barbecue grill. John’s investigation showed that gas leaked from an underground corroded copper line and that this identical problem existed at thousands of other homes. The defendant gas company launched a replacement program which was monitored by the state public service commission.
John’s team also exposed an illegal underground industry involving nitrous oxide products intended for culinary use being sold to smoke shops to be inhaled and abused across the country. The case resulted in a $745 million verdict for the family of a young woman who was killed when a driver, high on nitrous oxide, struck and killed her.
John and his team also represented a 13-year-old girl who was raped at a behavioral health center that was supposed to keep her safe. The firm’s investigation revealed that the facility was dangerously understaffed and had chosen not to monitor its own safety cameras. The jury concluded that the attack should have been prevented and awarded $535 million – the largest such award in Illinois history.
John and his firm’s work on a trucking accident that left two young fathers dead uncovered decades of dangerous conduct within the trailer manufacturing industry. John’s investigation discovered manufacturers continuously putting profits over people which led to weakened underride guards, which are supposed to stop vehicles from sliding underneath the back of a trailer in a collision. The jury returned a $462 million verdict in favor of Simon’s clients. At the conclusion of that trial, the judge remarked to the jury that “you had some of the best lawyering we’ve ever seen in this courthouse”.
Many of his firm’s cases have made national news, with John’s work being quoted in USA Today, the New York Times, ProPublica, NBC Nightly News, Yahoo News, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Chicago Tribune and many others, compelling changes across industries and companies.
That’s what John means when he says his firm is where cases become causes.
John’s honors and awards reveal what John’s clients already know — he stands among the best litigators in the United States.
He was inducted into the Inner Circle in 2014, which is an exclusive organization of the Top 100 plaintiffs’ attorneys in the country. He is nationally ranked in Chambers USA and his colleagues and peers have voted him the #1 lawyer in Missouri Super Lawyers, an unprecedented seven consecutive years.
In 2025, Missouri Lawyers Media named John an Influential Lawyer of the Year, which is “awarded to the newsmakers – the Missouri lawyers who made substantial contributions to the legal community this year”. He is also a past president of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis.
John got his law degree from St. Louis University School of Law and has served as an adjunct professor of Trial Advocacy there for more than 25 years.
He and his wife Margie have been married since 1985 and have three children and seven grandchildren.
John’s work ethic began in his own childhood, waking up at 4 a.m. to help his father run the family’s produce stand at the Soulard Market in St. Louis. His father, an immigrant from Lebanon, inspired him with his extraordinary work ethic and charitable nature as he frequently donated food to those in need. Watching his parents raise 10 children while running a successful business instilled a deep respect for hard work and independence in John.
John has also served as a board member for Access Academies, which helps improve education in underserved communities. He currently serves on the board of St. Mary’s High School as well as Giddo Simon Ministries, a non-profit he and his siblings founded in memory of their father to provide fresh produce to those most in need.
