PrintByline: Heather Cole
After 19 years in practice together, plaintiffs' attorneys John Simon and Paul Passanante are going their separate ways. Passanante will open Paul J. Passanante & Associates on Jan. 1. He is bringing with him associate Dawn Mefford and contract attorneys Kate Jilka and Luke Wells from what was Simon Passanante.
The three attorneys will be associates. Simon will continue to be managing partner of The Simon Law Firm, which will have 10 attorneys and 26 staff members after the departures. Passanante's practice focuses include medical malpractice, products liability, auto and general negligence cases. In a statement sent by a spokeswoman, Passanante said he still wanted to specialize exclusively on personal injury and wrongful death claims, even though tort reform may make it less lucrative. Wrongful death and medical malpractice lawsuits have dropped in Missouri after tort reform capping noneconomic damage awards took effect in 2005. I may make less money, but my new firm will be lean, mean and focused on quality legal representation in the same types of cases that I have been handlingfor the last 29 years, Passanante said in the statement. Quality legal work has always been more important to me than money. Simon and Passanante had worked together for 10 years at the Gray Ritter firm before starting Simon Passanante nine years ago, Simon said. He declinedto give a reason for the split, which he said was a mutual decision. I will tell you it was very amicable, Simon said. It's been a pleasure working with Paul for the last nine years and I wish him the best. The Passanante firm will have an office at 1010 Market in downtown St. Louis, three blocks from the Simon firm. In the past two months, Missouri Lawyers Weekly reported on a settlement and a verdict for Simon Passanante clients that together netted $22 million. Simon represented a plaintiff who got a $10 million settlement for an on-the-job accident that left the client with severe burns and an amputated arm. Passanante, Mefford and Jilka represented the surviving members ofa family after a wife and mother and her son were killed in a drunken driving accident. A jury awarded a $12 million verdict in that caseon Nov. 13.
