Christopher Simon

Thank you for taking the time to read up on my background. I will cover some of the dry academic points and then I will go over my philosophy for handling cases.

I spent the first ten years of my life in Europe and graduated from High School outside of Washington D.C. I attended the University of Virginia and graduated in 1993 with a degree in Foreign Affairs. After a year in banking, I went on to obtain my law degree from Mercer University in 1997.

I spent the next nine years trying cases for insurance companies including USAA, Liberty Mutual, Cotton States, Reliance, Montgomery, Great West and a variety of others. My practice grew more specialized and I was hired away from a trucking defense firm to handle complex cases for Liberty Mutual. Fed up with the lack of interaction with my clients and thankless hours, I decided to use my trial skills to help the victims of these companies. Over 25 years of practice, there are few insurance issues and fact patterns that I have yet to see.

I was chosen as one of the Top 100 Trial Lawyers Nationally by the National Trial Lawyers, my peers selected me to Georgia Trend Magazine’s “Legal Elite” list and I was selected as a Rising Star by Law and Politics’ Super Lawyers Magazine from 2009-2011. When I turned 40, I was selected to the Super Lawyers list and am on their Blue Ribbon Panel as one of the Top 100 lawyers in Georgia. These things are important, but they are only a reason why you should sit down for a consultation with our firm. After you meet us, your head and your heart will lead you to the correct decision.

As far as my philosophy, I am a firm believer in the 10,000-hour rule as discussed Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Outliers. He proposed that there is a point where a business person or artist has put over 10,000 hours into their craft and it becomes second nature to them. The work begins to have a flow to it that is hard to categorize or chart; I agree. Lawyers that never try or handle complex claims have no idea how to proceed. They may use industry terms, but its just a show and their inexperience can cost you thousands of dollars. Now with over 50,000 hours of lawyering under my belt, I can give your case the benefit of those years.

Getting through serious injuries often involves a financial balancing act and time is a luxury. Although insurance claims involve a cumbersome and slow series of formal steps, I do my best to explain the bottlenecks and long term strategy. If I tell a client that it will take a number of months to solve a problem or to obtain the correct settlement, I also point out the alternatives and the dollar cost to short cuts.

Injury claims and litigation are complex and we pride ourselves on our ability to boil the issues down to their components. Lawsuits are not quick or easy, but my clients always know where they are going and why.

The tort system was designed to balance the scales and to right wrongs. Many prospective clients have told me that they feel uncomfortable hiring a lawyer to handle an injury case and I understand that. I believe that hesitancy flows from the distasteful advertising that is so prevalent on TV these days. Our firm is 180 degrees from that model. We treat our client, our opponent, and the system with respect. We will go to the mat for the client but we do it in a way that seeks a fair result that reflects the character of the client and the firm.

When I am not litigating and writing, I live in Atlanta with my wife and twin boys, age 2. I have an 18 year old and a 21 year old attending St. Andrews University in Scotland, who I visit frequently as well as a grumpy ex-wife, who I do not visit.  I am an avid kayaker, blogger, history nerd and Land Rover off-road enthusiast. I dabble in bartending, restaurant maintenance  and wine tasting.

Jurisdictions Admitted to Practice

  • Federal District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, 1999
  • Federal District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, 2001
  • Georgia Court of Appeals, 1998
  • Georgia Supreme Court, 1998

Professional & Bar Association Memberships

State Bar of Georgia
  • Membership No. 646922, Member Since 1997
Georgia Trial Lawyers Association
  • Member Since 2007
  • Speaker GTLA Annual Meeting April 16, 2009, 2011, 2014 Buckhead Bar Association
  • President & Member Since 2009

Education

J.D., Mercer University Law School, 1997
Am. Jur. Criminal Law, Property Law

B.A., Foreign Affairs, The University of Virginia, 1993
Dean’s List