Attorneys

Lonnie C. Simmons began his legal career in 1982 as a writ clerk at the West Virginia Supreme Court. From 1983-1988, he served as a personal clerk for West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Thomas B. Miller. For the last fifteen years, Mr. Simmons has been actively engaged in practicing law, mostly on behalf of injured plaintiffs.

Mr. Simmons is well recognized as one of the first lawyers in the country to use DNA testing to free an innocent person, Glen Dale Woodall, from prison. His representation of Mr. Woodall, whose case was featured on the 48 Hours television program and is included in the book Actual Innocence by Barry Scheck, Peter Neufeld, and Jim Dwyer, not only resulted in Mr. Woodall's freedom, but his work also led to a $1,000,000 wrongful conviction settlement from the State of West Virginia. The important facts and law developed by Mr. Simmons during this representation triggered an investigation into the work performed by Fred S. Zain, who was the chief serologist for the West Virginia State Police. Mr. Simmons DNA litigation on behalf of Mr. Woodall led to the exposure of numerous instances of false and faulty work by Mr. Zain, which ultimately led to the release from prison of other wrongly convicted innocent people.

Over the course of his career, Mr. Simmons has obtained significant recoveries in a diverse range of claims, including wrongful conviction, police misconduct, or other civil rights violations. As a member of the West Virginia Employment Lawyers Association, Mr. Simmons is experienced in representing and trying cases involving employees wrongfully fired from their jobs, based upon disability, age, sex, or other types of discrimination. He also teaches seminars for other lawyers addressing employment issues. A significant part of his law practice involves appealing decisions from the circuit courts to the West Virginia Supreme Court. As an appellate lawyer, Mr. Simmons successfully has prosecuted a substantial number of appeals before the West Virginia Supreme Court, including appeals of wrongful death verdicts, employment discrimination claims, personal injury actions, and criminal convictions.

Mr. Simmons is listed in The Best Lawyers in America, and also was selected for inclusion in the 2008 West Virginia Super Lawyers in the "Employment Litigation: Plaintiff" category (one of only two lawyers listed in that category).