Simmons Hanly Conroy, one of the nation’s largest law firms focused on consumer protection and mass tort actions, is pleased to announce that five attorneys in the firm’s New York office have been named 2017 New York Metro Super Lawyers or Rising Stars.
Firm shareholders Andrea Bierstein, Mitchell Breit, and Jayne Conroy are listed as Super Lawyers for Class Action & Mass Torts, and shareholder Paul J. Hanly, Jr. is listed as a Super Lawyer for Products Liability. In addition, firm shareholder Jim Kramer is listed as a Rising Star for Products Liability.
“The firm congratulates our shareholders whose accomplishments and successes for their clients have earned them recognition among this year’s New York Metro Super Lawyers and Rising Stars,” said John Simmons, chairman of Simmons Hanly Conroy.
Bierstein focuses her practice on pharmaceutical litigation, consumer protection class actions, commercial litigation and environmental law. She has secured millions of dollars on behalf of her clients, including a $32 million antitrust settlement for a medical supply manufacturer.
Breit concentrates his practice on consumer class actions and mass torts of national scope. He was actively involved in the multidistrict litigation concerning the BP Gulf Oil Spill, as well as the multidistrict litigation concerning Toyota Unintended Acceleration. He also was instrumental in settling a seminal case against Bank of America involving debit card overdraft fees.
Conroy focuses on various complex civil cases, representing plaintiffs in a wide variety of products liability matters. Her current cases include a high profile sex abuse case against multiple Catholic institutions and pending litigation against Volkswagen on behalf of several thousand plaintiffs who were affected by the German automaker’s recent emissions scandal. She has held multiple court-appointed leadership roles of national scope in litigation against pharmaceutical companies brought by consumers harmed by dangerous drugs.
Hanly represents plaintiffs in a variety of mass tort and other complex civil cases and has played a leading role in the settlement of thousands of pharmaceutical cases, resulting in recoveries for the firm’s clients in excess of $300 million. Hanly currently serves as lead counsel for numerous counties and municipalities that have filed lawsuits against opioids manufacturers and physicians over aggressive and fraudulent marketing of the drugs that has led to an epidemic in the county.
Kramer focuses his practice on litigating asbestos/mesothelioma personal injury claims and has secured more than $30 million in verdicts and settlements. His successes have included two of New York’s only verdicts in favor of clients whose cases involved asbestos contamination of cosmetic talcum powder. Previously, Kramer was the leader of the Cosmetic Talc Litigation Department at another New York law firm.
Published by Thomson Reuters, Super Lawyers recognizes attorneys who have achieved a significant level of peer recognition and professional achievement. Only the top 5 percent of lawyers in the New York metropolitan area are named Super Lawyers. No more than 2.5 percent of lawyers in the area are selected as Rising Stars, who must be 40 years old or younger or have been in practice for 10 or fewer years. Super Lawyers uses independent research, peer nominations and peer evaluations to determine the honorees. The New York Metro Super Lawyers and Rising Stars lists are published in the New York Metro Super Lawyers Magazine and in various supplements in The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, the New Yorker and Westchester Magazine, as well as distributed to attorneys and ABA-accredited law school libraries.
About Simmons Hanly Conroy, LLC
Simmons Hanly Conroy is one of the nation’s largest mass tort law firms. Primary areas of litigation include asbestos and mesothelioma, pharmaceutical, consumer protection, environmental and personal injury. The firm’s attorneys have been appointed to leadership in numerous national multidistrict litigations, including Vioxx, Toyota Unintended Acceleration, BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, DePuy Pinnacle and the Volkswagen Emission Scandal. The firm also represents small and mid-size corporations, inventors and entrepreneurs in matters involving business litigation. Offices are located in New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, St. Louis, and Alton, Ill. Read more at www.simmonsfirm.com.
