Home Broward County BROWARDS OLDEST PRACTICING LAWYER J.JAY SIMONS WAS STILL PRACTICING AT 101 PASSED...

BROWARDS OLDEST PRACTICING LAWYER J.JAY SIMONS WAS STILL PRACTICING AT 101 PASSED AWAY

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Deerfield-News.com-Deerfield Beach, Fl-James Jay Simons a former Broward Municpal Judge and a legend in Broward personal injury and malpractice law has passed away at 101.
Jay is survived by his wife Nancy of 70 years his daughter Andrea and son Joe. His other son Daniel who was like a brother to me passed away about a decade ago from leukemia.
 May both Jay and Danny’s memories be a blessing. 
ORIGNAL POST DECEMBER 2022
BROWARDS OLDEST PRACTICING LAWYER J.JAY SIMONS STILL PRACTICING AT 100
I have had several attorneys in South Florida since going into business in 1980. None of them is more charismatic, well-connected, and a phenomenal trial lawyer than J. Jay Simons. Today CBS WFOR Hank Tester did a piece which in its entirety is posted below about Jay being the oldest practicing lawyer in Broward County.

Still going strong at 100 J.Jay Simons my attorney since 1984. A true legend in Broward County personal injury and malpractice trial law. Simons and Schlesinger was a well-connected and powerful law firm. I was with Jay just after he and Shelly split up to take their sons into their new practices.
Simon, Simons, Tobin, and Goodman did everything to fight and win against 4 insurance carriers involved in my 1984 accident when a drunk driver hit me. We had a trial in Broward Circuit Court and won and Old Dominion appealed and lost in the Fourth Circuit as well.  Simons brought in Appellate lawyer Nancy Little Hoffman who secured us a Per Curiam affirmed ruling from the appeals court.
Miss his son Danny who valiantly fought leukemia for over 20 years. He was like a brother and would have also become a legend in Broward law had leukemia not stricken him.

I met Jay in June of 1984 when I was the victim of a drunk driver who hit me while I was on my car on the shoulder  I-95 in Fort Lauderdale waiting for a tow truck on June 9, 1984.

J. Jay was already a legend for cases he and Sheldon(Shelley) Schlesinger had settled and or won at trial. They were a force in personal injury and malpractice law. They had just split up as they were taking their sons Danny Simons and Scott Schlesinger into their new practices. They both owned about a block of real estate on the corner of Davie Boulevard and S.E Third Ave. Now more famous is the building Schlesinger has subsequently built that looks like a courthouse and has a full-size courtroom in it on Davie Boulevard and S.E Third Ave.

I met Jay after retaining another firm for whatever reason I just did not like the guy. I called my then business attorney Harold Greene and he introduced me to J.Jay and his son Danny Simons. Harold also introduced Jay to his wife Nancy.

Well even though I was in the hospital with severe injuries including a compound comminuted fracture to my left leg I knew these guys were the attorneys for me.

To say that Jay and his former partner Sheldon  Schlesinger were well connected at the courthouse and at city hall, the Governor’s mansion, and beyond is an understatement.

 

Fair Use-Full credit below to Hank tester CBS News , Channel WFOR

From-CBS WFOR-MIAMI — At the dawn of the Roaring Twenties, Babe Ruth was a player with the New York Yankees, radio was just becoming a fixture in American homes, travel by airplanes was become more than a curiosity, prohibition was in full swing and scandal scarred Warren Harding was president.

Jay Simons
Jay Simons is 100 years old and still practicing law.COURTESY

In 1922, Jay Simons was born, and would later embark on a legal career that would span decades and continue into 2022.

Even though he’s a centenarian, Simons said he has no plans to hang up his legal filings.

“I like what I do,” he said. “I love what I do.”

At 100 years old and still working, Simons could be the oldest practicing attorney in Florida — if not the U.S.

After serving in World War II, Simons enrolled at the University of Miami, before graduating with a law degree.

He was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1950 and started a private practice in Fort Lauderdale, where he specialized in personal injury and medical malpractice.

Jay Simons
  Jay Simons is 100 years old and still practicing law.JAY SIMONS

Working at a practice with attorney Sheldon Schlessinger, the firm of J. Jay Simons & Sheldon J. Schelssinger was among Broward County’s top personal injury and medical malpractice firms.

Simons also served as a municipal judge for Broward County, where he was known as Judge JJ.

After years in the court room and on the bench, Simons has built a reputation as one of Broward’s best known mediators.

“I am good at it,” he said. “I can do almost the impossible with two people and they agree. It is a lot easier than going to court.”

Simons is working as a mediator through Zoom, an online tool that allows him to make full use of his legal through 21st century technology.

His prolific law career continues on the web with him handling mostly insurance cases.

The 100-year-old attorney obtains plenty of work from longtime connections who are still in the Broward legal community by using Zoom to everyone’s advantage.

“It does work and it saves a lot of money and a lot of time,” Simons said.

Married to his wife Nancy for 69 years, both are serious collectors of Western art.

When asked what is the secret to his longevity, he has a simple answer.

“My wife says I procrastinate and I have used it to my advantage because I am 100,” he said.