Simon Law Attorneys Have Won Close To $1.6 Billion In Punitive Damages With Three Verdicts In Just 12 Months

In just 12 months, Simon Law attorneys have won three nine-figure verdicts.

The verdicts, totaling close to $2 billion in punitive damages, have changed industries, held companies accountable and shined a national spotlight on issues that have gone on in darkness for way too long.

The firm’s founder, John G. Simon says common factor among all three nine-figure verdicts is how they fit his philosophy about his firm.

“At Simon Law, our cases become causes,” Simon said. “It is our mission to bring about positive societal change.

“Our recent verdicts have put national pressure on a nitrous oxide manufacturer for selling highly addictive products under the radar; compelled institutions to better protect some of the most vulnerable members of our society from sexual assault while they are in their care; and forced the trucking industry to find ways to make trailers safer for the public driving around them every day.”

Simon’s philosophy that led to these three verdicts developed early in his career, when he held the firefighter apparatus manufacturing industry accountable for making faulty oxygen equipment for firefighters. He was able to prove negligence on the part of the manufacturer that forced the company to make masks safer for our first responders.

He’s also reminded of his philosophy whenever he goes to a gas pump and sees warning labels telling drivers not to fill up gas containers inside their cars. That was the result of a case Simon won for a man who filled up a gas container on the bed of his truck, which then ignited, severely injuring him.

“The key to these cases is unraveling how the company or industry’s widespread failure led to our client’s individual harm,” Simon said.

This approach to the law has also helped Simon create an impressive net of referral attorneys. All three nine-figure verdicts originated with referral attorneys, who have seen the commitment and expertise Simon Law trial attorneys have to upholding the causes not cases mentality.

“Our referral attorneys place an enormous amount of trust and confidence in our firm, and for that we very grateful,” Simon said. “We thank them for these opportunities, and we enjoy partnering with them side-by-side.”

Here is a summary of the three verdicts:

$745 Million
September 2023

A St. Louis County jury found United Brands Products Design Development and Marketing, Inc. (an international distributor of nitrous oxide) and Coughing Cardinal, LLC (a local head shop) guilty of conspiring to sell nitrous oxide – a known inhalant drug – as an inhalant to consumers. The underground industry led to a car crash that caused the wrongful death of 25-year-old Marissa Politte. The jury awarded $745 million in damages following a two-week trial.

$535 Million
March 2024

A Champaign County jury awarded a $535 million verdict to a girl who was raped when she was 13 years old at a psychiatric residential treatment center. Simon Law Firm attorneys proved the facility could have prevented the 2020 attack. It took the jury 6 ½ hours to deliver its verdict – the largest known award in Illinois history. The jury awarded $60 million in compensatory damages — $20 million for the child’s “loss of normal life” and $40 million for her “pain and suffering.” It also included $475 million in punitive damages against the defendant, Pavilion Behavioral Health System, which operated the facility where the assault happened. It is an Illinois-based subsidiary of for-profit hospital operator Universal Health Services. The trial lasted eight days.

$462 Million
September 2024

A St. Louis City jury rendered a $462 million verdict against a trailer manufacturer, Wabash National Corporation, finding the company responsible for the deaths of two young fathers killed when their car went underneath the rear of a trailer. The jury awarded $462 million in damages. That included $6 million to each family, for a total of $12 million in compensatory damages, and $450 million in punitive damages. Simon Law presented how the federal standard on Rear Impact Guards or RIGs was developed, including evidence that the industry lobbied against stronger regulations and watered down whatever got passed, resulting in an ineffective and meaningless minimum federal standard that Wabash—and the entire industry—knew did not prevent underride in a wide variety of foreseeable and survivable crashes.