Lyons & Simmons, LLP has a hard-earned reputation for obtaining big results in important personal injury and wrongful death cases. The trial firm’s custom-tailored, client-focused approach has yielded remarkable results, leading to selection by readers of Texas Lawyer magazine as the top personal injury firm in Dallas in the “Best of 2020” survey of the Texas legal market.
The firm – led by founders Michael Lyons and Christopher Simmons – has garnered an impressive recent string of victories without a loss on its scorecard. That nearly unprecedented success has not gone unnoticed, either by clients or peers. In addition to recognition as the Best PI Firm in Dallas, Lyons and Simmons were recently named individually in The Best Lawyers in America, while trial lawyer Stephen Higdon was honored among Best Lawyer’s Ones to Watch.
The attorneys of Lyons & Simmons are truly warriors for their clients’ cases and causes, and it is a responsibility they take very seriously. Their tenacity, ingenuity and innovation have become hallmarks of the firm, and something that clients have come to expect and opponents respect.
Devoted to representing people who have the deck stacked against them, the firm has developed a national reputation for getting remarkable results in big, high-exposure disputes. Michael Lyons and Christopher Simmons’ recent results look more like career-spanning highlights than a 22-month snapshot.
In 2019, the pair represented the family of Parker Waldridge, one of five victims of the worst oilfield incident in Oklahoma history (and the deadliest in the U.S. since the 2010 Macondo Deepwater Horizon blowout). Waldridge was burned alive trying to escape a well fire sparked by a blowout that occurred while workers were performing drilling operations. The fire was so intense that it could be seen on satellite images. Lyons and Simmons have noted that the human tragedy from this case is one that still haunts them, as the circumstances that led to the blowout should never have happened.
Shortly before the start of that trial, the firm obtained a settlement with the last remaining defendant. The combined settlements in the case resulted in one of the largest recoveries for a wrongful death claimant in Oklahoma history. But for the attorneys of Lyons & Simmons, financial restitution is simply not enough in cases such as this. Through their investigative work, the partners were able to demonstrate the circumstances and practices that led to the tragedy, which will help to change the culture that allowed it to occur.
Such efforts to institute change are a recurring theme in the firm’s work.
“Our clients’ problems are our problems. I literally lose sleep at night thinking about how they have been wronged and how I intend to fix it,” says Lyons. “We are always ready to go into battle for our clients.”
Emblematic of their commitment to change was a particularly unsettling sexual assault case. The client, who suffered from dementia, was sexually assaulted in her own home by a cable installer. The team’s investigation would ultimately uncover a blind spot in the hiring practices of communications companies, which allowed dangerous predators to be employed. Lyons and Simmons were in the middle of depositions with corporate representatives when it became obvious that the “ball had been dropped” during the employment screening process. After shining a light on these negligent practices, the company was finally ready to take responsibility for its shortcomings.
“Most of our cases are David vs. Goliath stories,” says Simmons. “It is usually us against some giant institution represented by a team of big-firm lawyers whose strategy is to outspend and outflank you. We are not going to be intimidated. We just say, ‘Bring it on.’ We will be ready.”
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