John, born and raised in McKinney, Texas, earned his undergraduate degree summa cum laude from Concordia University at Austin with a major in Secondary Education and minors in Religion, Spanish and English.  He came to St. Louis to attend Saint Louis University School of Law, where he graduated summa cum laude.  John was made a member of the Order of the Woolsack.  While in law school, John clerked for the Honorable Judge Stiehl in the Southern District of Illinois and was selected for Moot Court I and II.  He attended study abroad programs in Guanajuato, Mexico and in Madrid, Spain and obtained an international law certificate.  John also received five academic excellence awards.  John is licensed to practice law in Missouri, Illinois and New York as well as before the U.S. District Court in both the Eastern and Western Districts of Missouri.  John is a member of the Missouri Bar Association, American Bar Association, Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys, Lawyers' Association of St. Louis, Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, National Association of Consumer Advocates, Public Justice (Missouri State Coordinator) and the Hispanic National Bar Associaiton.  John's practice at The Simon Law Firm, P.C. consists primarily of working on class action litigation.  Cases range from wage and hour violations to a variety of predatory lending and consumer law claims.  John has appeared before the Missouri Supreme Court arguing against the application of the voluntary payment doctrine to a consumer class action.  John also argued Woods v. Q.C. Financial before the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District.  The decision in that case, handed down December 23, 2008, made the prohibition of class arbitration in small damage claims unconscionable in Missouri.  John also prosecutes carefully selected employment discrimination claims.