Susan L. "Sue" Werstak

Eric P. Hall is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Defendants. Eric P., who practices law in Edwardsville, Illinois, has been recognized since 2018. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Eric P. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Melanie A. Renken is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Employment Law - Management and Litigation - Labor and Employment. Melanie A., who practices law in St. Louis, Missouri, has been recognized since 2027. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Melanie A. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Don M. Downing is a former Missouri Chief Deputy Attorney General and managing partner of the St. Louis office of one of the region's largest law firms. As Chief Deputy Attorney General - Missouri's top appointed legal officer - from 1993 to 1995, Mr. Downing was the lead lawyer in cases involving consumer protection, antitrust, environmental, securities and many other areas of law. He appeared before the Supreme Court of the United States four times, including one case he personally argued. ...

Mark H. Levison is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Commercial Litigation and Copyright Law. Mark H., who practices law in St. Louis, Missouri, has been recognized since 2024. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Mark H. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Theodore J. MacDonald, Jr. is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation, Criminal Defense: White-Collar and Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants. Theodore J., who practices law in St. Louis, Missouri, has been recognized since 2007. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Theodore J. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Jim Layton joined the firm in 2017 after serving more than 22 years in the Missouri Attorney General’s Office—nearly all of those as the State’s principal civil appellate lawyer, Solicitor General. Jim practices in both appellate and trial courts, particularly in matters involving complex legal questions, including those arising under the U.S. and Missouri constitutions, Missouri school funding and other education statutes, discrimination laws, and Missouri tax laws. He repr...

In his over 30 years of practice, Alan Freed has established himself as one of Missouri's pre-eminent practitioners of mediation and collaborative divorce , and as a leading appellate attorney. Mr. Freed was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers in 2009 and is listed in Missouri/Kansas Super Lawyers. Best Lawyers named him Attorney of the Year for Collaborative Law: Family Law in St. Louis in 2013 and for Family Law Mediation for 2015. A mediator since 1985, Mr. Free...

Partner Melissa Crowe Schopfer joined Simmons Hanly Conroy in 2005 as an asbestos and mesothelioma attorney. In November 2012, she became an asbestos trial team leader, where her responsibilities include managing a team of attorneys and legal staff. She has worked on over 500 cases in the past 10 years and helped recover over $100 million in settlements and verdicts on behalf of individuals and families impacted by mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases. She has represented clients ...

Amy Bender-Levy is a member of the Firm’s family law department and is licensed to practice in Missouri and Illinois as well as the US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. Amy’s practice focuses on divorce, custody, modification, orders of protection, third-party custody, guardianship of adults and minors, and grandparents’ rights. Amy serves as a Guardian ad Litem representing the best interests of children in those cases in which she is appointed by the cou...

I was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. I come from two hard-working parents who were also born and raised here in St. Louis. In my early twenties, I was involved in a serious motor vehicle crash that left me unable to walk for several months. This experience was life-changing in every sense of the term. I learned first-hand how insurance companies could take advantage of someone without a law degree. But some good came out of it - ultimately this was the event that sent me on a path to...