Melcous,

It’s good to talk to you again. I’m Mark Annick, the COI editor who works with Simon Greenstone. You and I discussed the Simon Greenstone page back in 2016 when another editor was making changes to the page, and you were very helpful in making some additional edits that we requested.

First things first: my apologies. One of our group was looking at the page and inadvertently deleted the material with regard to racketeering. This was an honest error on our part and I hope you’ll accept my apology.

I’m writing now to seek some additional edits and, once again, am sending these to you directly rather than making them on the page, per Wikipedia’s rules. I’ve pasted the current version of the Wikipedia copy below and have suggested some edits/additions, as well as footnotes that you can cite.

We note that since our last correspondence, the user who created all of the negative content about Simon Greenstone – Classyklowngrasper – has been blocked indefinitely from Wikipedia, as there is evidence that he or she used multiple accounts. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Classyklowngrasper

Given that, and because the content Classyklowngrasper wrote was overdetailed and created with no purpose other than to make the firm look bad, and because both of the cases have since been dismissed, we are asking that Wikipedia delete the Racketeering portion in its entirety. If that’s not possible, we would ask for edits to the Racketeering portion of this entry, which the now-banned contributor created.

If neither of those is possible, we would ask that you allow a change in the ordering of this, so as to deemphasize the negative content, which again, was created by a now-banned contributor.

Beyond that, we’ve suggested new information on opioids, as that is an area where Jeffrey Simon is doing a great amount of work. We’ve also suggested additions in the Asbestos area, as the firm has won more verdicts, and we have added some information with regard to awards.

In all of these, we have provided the appropriate citations, which we have placed at the bottom of this note. On one issue only – the number of opioid cases that Jeffrey currently is working on – I do not have a citation, as no one has reported that. The information comes from him directly.

Please let me know whether you have any questions.

Thanks, Mark

Mark Annick Androvett Legal Media 214-559-4630

MarkAnnick (talk) 19:14, 5 April 2018 (UTC)Reply


Simon Greenstone Panatier Bartlett From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Simon Greenstone Panatier Bartlett is a law firm based in Dallas, Texas, specializing in personal injury litigation and tort liability. Contents

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• 1History • 2Asbestos cases o 2.1Racketeering • 3Philanthropy • 4External links • 5References History[edit] The firm was founded as Simon, Eddins & Greenstone in 2005 by two lawyers from Waters & Kraus.[1] Jeffrey Simon is one of the firm's founding partners. As of December 2015, Simon was head of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association.[2][3] Simon holds an undergraduate degree from Colgate University and a law degree from the University of Texas.[4]

Opioids On September 29, 2017, Jeffrey Simon filed a lawsuit on behalf of Upshur County in East Texas against a number of pharmaceutical companies for their role in creating and promoting the nation’s opioid epidemic. (1) The lawsuit represented the very first time that a Texas county had sued the companies. (2) Altogether, Mr. Simon now represents 44 counties and cities in Texas and Montana. One of Simon’s clients – Ector County, Texas – is home to the West Texas city of Odessa, the county seat. A study shows Odessa has the 15th highest opioid abuse rate in the United States. (3)

Asbestos cases[edit] Simon Greenstone has represented numerous plaintiffs in asbestos-related cases, particularly victims of mesothelioma. In 2014, a Dallas County jury awarded a mesothelioma sufferer $18.6 million in damages, including $15 million in punitive damages.[5] In April 2016 an Arizona federal jury awarded $17 million in a wrongful death action.[6] In 2017, a Dallas County jury awarded $8.8 million to the family of Billy Dickson. Mr. Dickson had been exposed to asbestos while working at Bell Helicopter. He later developed mesothelioma and died. (4)

Top Verdicts TopVerdict.com recognized Simon Greenstone for the largest jury verdict in Arizona in 2016. (6)That case, Coulbourn v. Crane, involved a $17 million jury award to the family of George Coulbourn, a retired civilian U.S. Navy employee who died of mesothelioma. In the same year, the organization also recognized Simon Greenstone for the largest asbestos case verdict in California. That case, Depoian v. American International Industries, Inc., prominent California political figure Philip Depoian, who was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2015.

Philanthropy[edit] Simon Greenstone provides $50,000 college scholarships for Dallas students whose lives have been disrupted by cancer.[10][11]

Racketeering[edit] Simon Greenstone was one of five law firms sued for violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) by asbestos gasket manufacturer Garlock Sealing Technologies in January 2014. The case against Simon Greenstone and the other law firms has since been dismissed. On January 25, 2016, John Crane filed to intervene in the suit against Simon Greenstone and made racketeering claims distinct from those made by Garlock.[8] That case has since been dismissed. (5)

1. https://www.dallasnews.com/business/health-care/2017/10/04/northeast-texas-county-becomes-first-state-sue-pharma-companies-opioid-crisis 2. https://www.law.com/texaslawyer/sites/texaslawyer/2017/10/09/dallas-lawyer-takes-on-the-drug-industry-in-a-first-of-its-kind-federal-case/ 3. http://www.oaoa.com/people/health/article_a0d053de-1292-11e8-afe2-4b43a6ee2d2e.html 4. http://www.amarillo.com/business/local-news/news/2017-03-29/bell-ordered-pay-88-million-former-engineer-exposed-asbestos 5. https://www.lexislegalnews.com/articles/15908/judges-dismiss-john-crane-s-rico-suits-against-lawyers-for-lack-of-jurisdiction 6. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/simon-greenstone-earns-2016-top-verdict-recognition-in-california-arizona-300476802.html 7.


October 2016

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Hi Mark, I had a look at your comments on the Simon Greenstone Panatier Bartlett talk page and have made some changes to the article, removing what seemed to me to be excessive detail and adding some tags to indicate that the article isn't neutral. However, much of your suggestions on the talk page go the other way and are promotional. Plus the formatting of what you have added is particularly difficult to decipher. If you have specific things you think should be included in the article, perhaps you could suggest them one at a time and include specific references for each claim - see WP:CS for more detail on how wikipedia uses references - and I'm happy to keep working on the article as I can to make it more neutral and balanced. Thanks Melcous (talk) 02:16, 13 October 2016 (UTC)Reply

Melcous,

Thanks so much for the edits and for your attention to the page. I very much appreciate it. And I like the notion of providing these one at a time, especially since I'm something of a Wiki novice.

Would you consider including the following as an addition to the page please?

Sandra Brown Coulbourn et al. v. Crane Co. In 2016, a jury in Phoenix, Arizona, awarded $17 million to George Coulbourn, who died in 2012 less than one year after having been diagnosed with mesothelioma[1][2][3]. Coulbourn had worked as a shipyard machinist and one of his tasks involved removing asbestos-containing gaskets and packing from valves manufactured by Crane Co. (NYSE:CR) Mr. Coulbourn’s family was represented by attorneys David Greenstone, Jordan Blumenfeld-James and Sam Iola. The case is Sandra Brown Coulbourn, surviving wife and on behalf of decedent’s surviving statutory beneficiaries, George Coulbourn, Jr., Scott Alan Coulbourn and Shannon Coulbourn Moses v. Crane Co., et al., No. CV 3:13-cv-08141-PCT-SRB.

MarkAnnick (talk) 17:23, 13 October 2016 (UTC)Reply

Hi Mark. Thanks for that, and yes I agree this is an easier way to go about it! No worries about being a Wiki novice, everyone is at some stage! I hope you might consider editing some articles on topics which you do not have a conflict of interest on, as that will help you get the hang of it, plus the project can always use more diligent editors.
In terms of the specific paragraph above, however, unfortunately the way it is written it is about the case and not about the firm at all, and the firm is the subject of the article. So it would need to be rewritten. My questions are: why is this particular case significant, and why is it significant that this particular law firm was involved in this case? These would be some of the starting criteria for including something in the article? Perhaps it would be better to start with basic information about the firm's history: when was it started and by whom, are there any other notable people involved in it, has it won any notable awards, etc. I will do some initial (basic) research myself as well and see what I can find about the firm. Cheers, Melcous (talk) 21:08, 13 October 2016 (UTC)Reply
Nothing in the first sources mentions your firm. I don't see how we can use it.Classyklowngrasper (talk) 11:42, 1 November 2016 (UTC)Reply
Ditto for the others. Classyklowngrasper (talk) 11:44, 1 November 2016 (UTC)Reply

Clippings file

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Does your firm have a clippings file? If you could post links to articles about your firm, we would go over them for usable material. Please note though that we the articles would need to contain information that is actually about your firm.Classyklowngrasper (talk) 11:46, 1 November 2016 (UTC)Reply

  1. ^ Insurance Journal, "$17M Award in Asbestos Death of Navy Civilian Employee in Arizona," April 22, 2016 (http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2016/04/22/406255.htm)
  2. ^ Lexis Legal News, "Federal Jury Awards $17M to Widow, Children, in Asbestos Action," April 26, 2016, (http://www.lexislegalnews.com/articles/7875/federal-jury-awards-17m-to-widow-children-in-asbestos-action)
  3. ^ Law360.com, "Arizona Jury Awards $17M for Navy Worker's Asbestos Death," April 22, 2016, (http://www.law360.com/articles/788224/ariz-jury-awards-17m-for-navy-worker-s-asbestos-death)