EAST ST. LOUIS – Former U.S. attorney Stephen Wigginton has joined the firm of Simmons Hanly Conroy in Alton, according to a notice he filed at U.S. district court on Dec. 7.
He left the St. Louis firm of Armstrong Teasdale in November.
The notice indicates he will continue representing Belleville lawyer Brian Flynn in a class action against Chrysler and instrument maker Harman International.
Armstrong Teasdale lawyers in St. Louis and Denver continue representing Flynn, who claims remote hackers can seize control of his Jeep.
The docket shows Christopher Baucom of Armstrong Teasdale and Belleville lawyer Christopher Cueto as lead attorneys.
Wigginton resigned as U.S. attorney in November 2015, after five years on the job.
Two Armstrong Teasdale lawyers had appeared for Flynn earlier that month, and two more appeared the following week.
Wigginton entered the action last year and took leadership, filing most of Flynn’s briefs and at one point directing defense counsel to speak to no one but him.
He filed an action in California seeking evidence this April, and in the process exposed Chrysler’s trade secrets as public record.
Chrysler obtained an order in California, restoring confidentiality.
Wigginton appeared at a hearing about it on April 27, before Magistrate Judge Donald Wilkerson, but did not appear at a hearing about it on May 5.
On May 23, he was arrested by Troy police after driving off the eastbound ramp from Interstate 55-70 to U.S. 40, knocking down a fence, and driving on with his engine smoking and squealing.
He later pleaded guilty of driving under the influence.
His time at Armstrong Teasdale ran out within six months.
Other than Flynn’s action, he litigated only one case for Armstrong Teasdale in the court where he represented the nation for five years.
In that case, starting in September 2016, he defended a job discrimination claim against Ohio owners of the Landshire food plant in Caseyville.
Two Cincinnati lawyers appeared for the owners last December, and three from the Greensfelder firm in St. Louis appeared for them this February.
Wigginton withdrew from the action in March.