Attorney Advertising. This profile is independent editorial content produced by Awesome Attorneys and is not a paid placement. Nothing in this article constitutes legal advice or creates an attorney-client relationship. See our Methodology and Publisher Disclosure below.

Leonard H. Simon: A Houston Bankruptcy Attorney Who Argued a Case Before the U.S. Supreme Court — and Won

Leonard Simon didn’t just handle the Timbers of Inwood bankruptcy case — he argued it personally before the U.S. Supreme Court and won a unanimous decision, a career-defining credential that few bankruptcy attorneys anywhere, let alone in Houston, can claim.

Origin and Background

Leonard H. Simon practices at Pendergraft & Simon, L.L.P. in Houston, TX, confirmed through the firm’s own site and Simon’s Martindale-Hubbell and Super Lawyers profiles. Simon graduated at the top of his class from South Texas College of Law in 1977 and was inducted into the Order of the Lytae, an honorary fraternity recognizing outstanding academic achievement. He was admitted to the State Bar of Texas in 1977 and has practiced continuously since, putting his active bankruptcy and business-litigation career at nearly five decades.

Practice Concentration

Simon is Board Certified in Business Bankruptcy Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, with more than 30 years of litigation experience spanning real estate, corporate matters, insolvency, reorganization, and bankruptcy law. He is admitted to practice before the U.S. Bankruptcy Courts for the Eastern, Western, Northern, and Southern Districts of Texas, the U.S. District Courts for those same districts, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the U.S. Supreme Court. See this Houston Bankruptcy & Debt directory for how this business-bankruptcy-certified litigator compares to consumer-focused firms also serving Harris County.

Notable Work / Track Record

Simon’s most notable case is Timbers of Inwood Forest Associates, Ltd. v. United Savings Association of Texas, a significant bankruptcy case he personally argued before the U.S. Supreme Court and won in a unanimous decision — an independently verifiable matter of public record given its status as reported Supreme Court precedent. As a business litigation practice, the firm does not publish a broader table of case-specific results beyond this notable matter, and Awesome Attorneys did not identify one.

Client Voice

Awesome Attorneys did not identify a substantial volume of public consumer-style client reviews for Simon individually, consistent with a business bankruptcy litigation practice that more often serves institutional and corporate clients than individual consumer filers who tend to leave the bulk of online reviews. Awesome Attorneys discloses this as a data gap rather than a negative signal.

Beyond the Courtroom

Simon authored “The Abolition of the Assumption of Risk Defenses in Texas: Farley v. M.M. Cattle Co.” in the South Texas Law Journal in 1976, a law review publication predating his bar admission. Awesome Attorneys did not identify separate non-legal civic or nonprofit board service documented for him.

Recognition for This Houston Bankruptcy Attorney

Simon’s Texas Board of Legal Specialization certification in Business Bankruptcy Law, independently verified through TBLS’s own certification records, is the credential Awesome Attorneys relies on to apply “specialist” language to his practice, consistent with house policy reserving that language for genuine TBLS certification. He holds an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell and was named a Texas Super Lawyer for seven consecutive years, from 2008 through 2014, and again from 2020 through 2023 — credentials distinct from paid marketing placements.

Texas Legal Backdrop

Business bankruptcy filings in Houston’s Southern District of Texas — Simon’s certified specialty — most commonly proceed under Chapter 11 for companies seeking to reorganize debt while continuing operations, a framework distinct from the means-test-driven Chapter 7 process individual consumers typically use. The Timbers of Inwood decision Simon argued and won remains a cited precedent on the treatment of undersecured creditors’ claims to postpetition interest in bankruptcy. None of this is legal advice; a specific bankruptcy or reorganization matter should be evaluated by a licensed Texas attorney based on the actual facts involved.

Awesome Attorneys Assessment

Leonard Simon’s clearest differentiator is almost unmatched in this category: TBLS Business Bankruptcy certification paired with a personally argued and won U.S. Supreme Court bankruptcy case, backed by nearly five decades of continuous practice and sustained Super Lawyer recognition. The honest trade-off is that this is a business-litigation-oriented practice, not a consumer-facing Chapter 7/13 filing service, and Awesome Attorneys did not identify a substantial public consumer-client-review record to assess. For a Harris County business facing complex Chapter 11 reorganization or high-stakes bankruptcy litigation, Simon’s Supreme Court-level litigation credential is an exceptionally strong basis for a shortlist.

Methodology and Sourcing

This profile was researched from Leonard H. Simon’s attorney biography at Pendergraft & Simon, L.L.P., his Super Lawyers and Lawyer Legion profiles, and independently available reporting on the Timbers of Inwood U.S. Supreme Court decision.

Publisher Disclosure and Independence Notice

Awesome Attorneys is an independent legal directory and editorial publication. This profile was not paid for, commissioned, or reviewed by Pendergraft & Simon, L.L.P. or Leonard H. Simon prior to publication. Awesome Attorneys may in the future offer sponsored placement products to attorneys and firms, including this one, but sponsorship has no bearing on the editorial content, inclusion, or findings of this profile.