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Valerie Simmons focuses her practice on business and tort litigation, including product liability, professional malpractice, personal injury, health industry business litigation, employment litigation and business torts.
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Representative Experience
- Defended Meijer Corporation in an insurance coverage litigation case (which arose from a wrongful death case in Ohio in which Meijer was ordered to pay a $12 million judgment.) The defense was successful in Federal District Court and upheld before the Court of Appeals
- Defended Marathon Oil Company in a products liability/wrongful death action arising out of a propane gas explosion. The case, assigned to Judge Lamb of the Kalamazoo County Circuit Court, settled for the mediation award. A no-cause judgment was rendered in favor of Marathon at mediation
- Defended Battle Creek Adventist Hospital in a hospital negligence/wrongful death action brought by the personal representative of a psychiatric patient who committed suicide while confined in the hospital. The case, assigned to Judge Miller of the Calhoun County Circuit Court, settled prior to trial
- Defended North Avenue Women’s Center of Battle Creek, Michigan, and one of its employees, a nurse-midwife, in a birth trauma case filed on behalf of a child born at the Center who suffered birth anoxia. The case, before Judge Miller in the Calhoun County Circuit Court, settled prior to trial
- Defended Steelcase Inc. in a tortious interference claim filed by a former vendor. The case was filed in Kent County Circuit Court. A motion to limit the recovery to nominal damages was granted by Judge Benson and affirmed on appeal
- Defended Harlo Products Corporation in a products liability action filed by an oil rig worker injured in a forklift accident. The case, before Judge Enslen in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, settled after arbitration
- Represented a Jackson, Michigan, Ophthalmology firm in litigation to enforce a restrictive covenant against one of its former physician employees. The case, before Judge Perlos in Jackson County Circuit Court, settled prior to trial
- Other representative clients (and type of claim) include Granada Limited Partnership Investors (securities fraud); Greiner, Inc. (architectural malpractice); Health Care and Retirement Corporation (nursing home negligence); Holland Community Hospital (hospital negligence); Nissan U.S.A. (dealer termination dispute); Old Kent Bank (accountant malpractice); Private Ledger, Inc. (broker-dealer misrepresentation claim); Purina Mills, Inc. (wrongful discharge litigation); SHR Limited Partnership (breach of fiduciary duty by liquidating trustees); Transamerica (Condominium Act claim); The Upjohn Company (pharmaceutical products liability); John Widdicomb, Inc. (corporate governance dispute); Yamaha (dealer termination dispute)
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Honors And Awards
Named a Super Lawyer in the 2007 and 2008 editions of Michigan Super Lawyers Order of the Barons Honor Society Recipient of 2002 Distinguished Community Trustee Award by Leadership Grand Rapids Recipient of the Floyd Skinner Justice Award, January 2002 Appointed to the Committee on Model Civil Jury Instructions by the Michigan Supreme Court, January 2002 Appointed to the Civil Rights Commission by Gov. John Engler, February 1998, and appointed Chair in October 2004
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Bar Associations
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Federal Bar Association
Scholarship Committee, 1992-Present
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State Bar of Michigan
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American Bar Association
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Grand Rapids Bar Association
Vice-President, 2005
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Teaching and Lecturing
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Publications
“Differentiated Case Management and Alternative Dispute Resolution-The Western District’s Plan to Reduce Costs and Delay in Civil Litigation,” Michigan Bar Journal, May 1993 “The Grand Rapids Bar Association’s Clerkship Program-Prescription for Diversity,” Michigan Bar Journal, March 1994
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Professional Affiliations
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Floyd Skinner Bar Association
President, 1993-95; 2003-Present
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Michigan Civil Rights Commission
Chair, 2004; Member, 1998-Present
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Michigan Supreme Court
Committee on Standard Jury Instructions (Civil), 1992-Present
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Model Civil Jury Instructions Committee
Member, appointed January 2002
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National Health Law Association
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United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan
Civil Justice Advisory Group, 1992-Present
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Community Affiliations
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Black Educational Excellence Program
Volunteer, 1991-Present
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Celebration on the Grand Board of Directors
Legal Counsel (Pro Bono)
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Concerned Citizens Council
Board of Trustees and Legal Counsel, 1994-Present
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Grand Rapids Public Schools
Children's Summit Steering Committee, 1995-2000
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Grand Rapids Service Corps
Board of Directors, 1993-2000; Chairperson, 1996-2000; Legal Counsel 1993-2000
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Grand Valley State University Foundation
Board of Trustees
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Michigan Women's Foundation
Program Committee, 1994-Present
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NAACP
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Ronald McDonald House of Western Michigan
Board of Directors; Legal Counsel, 1995-2000
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Spectrum Health
Board of Trustees, DeVos Children's Hospital Committee, Merger Implementation Committee and Board Development Committee, 1997-Present
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News
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