Biography

Simon Grille is a partner at Girard Sharp, representing plaintiffs in class and complex litigation concerning consumers’ rights, antitrust, and financial fraud. He has taken a lead role in consumer class actions against some of the largest technology companies in the world and has recovered tens of millions of dollars for the firm’s clients.

Simon has substantial experience in all aspects of civil litigation. In In re MacBook Keyboard Litigation, No. 5:18-CV-02813-EJD, 2021 WL 1250378 (N.D. Cal. Apr. 5, 2021), Simon led the firm’s successful efforts in certifying a multistate class, withstanding sophisticated challenges to Plaintiffs’ experts and a Rule 23(f) petition, and securing a $50 million settlement on behalf of purchasers of MacBook laptops with ultrathin “butterfly” keyboards. He served on the lead counsel team in Bentley v. LG Electronics U.S.A., Inc. and Sosenko v. LG Electronics U.S.A., Inc. (settlement providing multi-thousand dollar recoveries to class members who purchased allegedly defective LG refrigerators); and in In re Nexus 6P Products Liability Litigation and Weeks v. Google LLC (two consumer class actions against Google relating to defective mobile phones, which resolved for a combined $17 million).

Simon also has significant experience in the area of privacy litigation. He was appointed lead counsel in Ochoa et al. v. The Regents of the Univ. of Cal. et al., No. RG21097796 (Cal. Super. Ct., Alameda Cnty.), a case brought on behalf of victims of a data breach affecting the University of California. He has also played an integral role on the lead counsel team in In re U.S. Office of Personnel Management Data Security Breach Litigation, 928 F.3d 42 (D.C. Cir. 2019), which settled for $63 million and will compensate federal employees and job applicants whose highly sensitive personnel files were exposed in a 2015 data breach. Simon also served on the plaintiffs’ executive committees in In re Experian Data Breach Litigation, No. 8:15-cv-01592-AG (C.D. Cal.), and In re 21st Century Oncology Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, 380 F. Supp. 3d 1243 (M.D. Fla.), which resulted in settlements valued in excess of $39 million and $12.5 million, respectively. In addition, he has successfully led several cases under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Simon welcomes the challenges of complex civil litigation, approaching each case with a creative problem-solving approach and an unwavering commitment to obtaining the best possible outcome for his clients.

Simon has been named a Rising Star by Super Lawyers each year since 2017 and was named to Best Lawyers’ “Ones to Watch” list in 2021 and 2022. He is editor of the American Association for Justice’s Class Action Newsletter and served as a volunteer fee arbitrator for the Bar Association of San Francisco.

Before joining Girard Sharp, Simon represented victims of toxic exposure in complex civil litigation. He also has experience working in-house at a multinational company and as an extern for the Honorable Arthur S. Weissbrodt of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California.

  • Extern for the Honorable Arthur S. Weissbrodt of the United States Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of California

J.D., University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law

  • Distinguished and Outstanding Brief Writer, UCLA School of Law Moot Court Competition (2012-2013)
  • Oral Argument semi-finalist, Roscoe Pound Moot Court Competition (2013)
  • Senior articles editor and managing editor, Entertainment Law Review (2012-2013)

B.A., University of California, Berkeley

  • California
  • Northern District of California
  • Central District of California
  • Northern District of Illinois

Representing consumers in product defect class actions against Apple (In Re: MacBook Keyboard Litigation, No. 5:18-cv-02813 (N.D. Cal.)), Google (Weeks, et al. v. Google LLC, No. 5:18-cv-00801 (N.D. Cal.) and In re Nexus 6P Prods. Liab. Litig., No. 5:17-cv-02185 (N.D. Cal.)), Samsung (Velasquez-Reyes v. Samsung Elecs. Am., Inc., No. 16-cv-01953-DMG (C.D. Cal.)), and other prominent technology companies.

Representing consumers in telecommunications class actions against Uber (In Re Uber Text Messaging, No. 4:18-cv-02931 (N.D. Cal.)), ADT (Buhr v. ADT LLC, NO. 9:18-cv-80605 (S.D. Fla.), and other large companies.

Combined traditional litigation techniques with cutting-edge software to automate the preparation of over 2,000 individual claims after product defect case was compelled to individual arbitration (Chamberlain, et al. v. LG Elecs. U.S.A., Inc., et al., No. 2:17-cv-02046 (C.D. Cal.)).

  • Named to the Northern California Super Lawyers “Rising Stars” list (2017-present)
  • Named to Best Lawyers Ones to Watch (2021-2022)

Community & Professional

  • Member, American Bar Association
  • Member, Federal Bar Association, Northern District of California Chapter
  • Member, American Association for Justice
  • Member, Bar Association of San Francisco