“One of the country’s leading personal injury firms”
- The Philadelphia Inquirer
5 Doctor/Lawyers - More Than Any Firm in America
$8 Billion
Verdict
$2.2 Billion
Verdict
$175 Million
Verdict
Catastrophic Injury Attorneys
Serving Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, New York & Nationwide
Kline & Specter, PC, is a preeminent law firm in the United States concentrating in catastrophic injury and medical malpractice litigation.
The firm has among the most large verdicts in the United States, having obtained some of the largest in the nation and six of the largest eight verdicts in Pennsylvania in recent years. Its lawyers hold impressive records in Pennsylvania, including the largest verdict in state history — an $8 billion punitive damages award against Johnson & Johnson in a pharmaceutical case — and three of the largest verdicts in contested liability cases — $2.25 billion, $175 million and $120 million in product liability cases and $109 million in a power line electrocution case.
They are elected members of the Inner Circle of Advocates, a select group of 100 of the nation's most celebrated trial lawyers.
The firm has won acclaim across the country, including:
- Cited as "one of the country’s leading personal injury firms," Philadelphia Inquirer
- Called "the most powerful plaintiffs firm in the city," Philadelphia Business Journal
- Referred to as "a powerhouse law firm," The New York Times
- Winner of The Legal Intelligencer’s “Litigation Department of the Year” Award for Medical Malpractice and Product Liability/Mass Torts (2018)
Kline & Specter, with more than 50 attorneys, five of whom are also highly skilled doctors – the most of any firm in America — has unparalleled expertise and unsurpassed success in medical malpractice litigation.
Beyond monetary awards, the firm’s cases have prompted safety changes in government and industry. (See Safety Improvements) Litigation has spurred action for product recalls, changes in hospital protocols and new rules for citizen protection. The Hall case, for instance, prompted SEPTA to upgrade all its escalators to include safety devices. In the Gillyard/Rich civil rights case, Shanin Specter got the Philadelphia Police Department to establish new guidelines requiring safer operation of squad cars. And the firm’s representation of a victim in the Penn State child sexual abuse case will hopefully help lead to changes in the university’s policies and practices. Most recently, efforts by Kline & Specter attorneys helped enact the Timothy J. Piazza Act aimed at deterring hazing on college campuses and elsewhere.
Kline & Specter and its attorneys also make substantial contributions to a long list of charities and public institutions in the community (see our Charities page), including the recent donation of $50 million by Tom Kline to Drexel University's Kline School of Law (Read about the donation).
In addition to litigating a vast array of individual personal injury cases, Kline & Specter represents women in state and federal court who were injured by transvaginal mesh.
The firm, with several former prosecutors among its attorneys, also handles False Claims Act cases filed under seal in courts around the country as well as clients with claims filed under the Internal Revenue Service’s whistleblower program. Our qui tam cases, both those in suit and those under investigation, involve a variety of fraud on federal government programs, including schemes by large health care companies and institutions to defraud Medicare and Medicaid. Our IRS whistleblower clients have reported tens of millions of dollars worth of tax fraud to the government.
Kline & Specter dedicates true attention to each client. The skill and experience of its attorneys, along with innovative trial strategies and the use of the latest in courtroom technology, helps to ensure a high success rate with impressive results.
The firm handles cases in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and New York. For cases outside those states, Kline & Specter works with local attorneys in each state as applicable.
Kline & Specter, PC works on a contingent fee basis – which means we only get paid if and when you are financially compensated. Kline & Specter is paid a percentage of the amount recovered. Any costs incurred by Kline & Specter will only be charged if the client is financially compensated.
After a very careful screening process, Kline & Specter takes only cases it believes to be meritorious.
“A powerhouse law firm”
- The New York Times
$8BILLION
Product Liability
Punitive damages verdict against J&J involving the drug Risperdal, linked to the growth of female breast tissue in boys. Verdict was the largest in PA history and among largest ever in the nation.
$2.25BILLION
Product Liability
Jury verdict including $2 billion in punitive damages against Monsanto for a Pennsylvania man in a Roundup cancer case
$175MILLION
Product Liability
Verdict against Monsanto Co. in a case in which a Philadelphia man was diagnosed with cancer from years of using its weed killer Roundup. (Caranci).
$153MILLION
Product Liability
Verdict against Ford in death of a boy run over by truck with defective parking brake. The then-second largest product liability verdict in the nation. (White) (Jury awarded $52 million in retrial of punitive damages.)
$120MILLION
Transvaginal Mesh
Verdict against Johnson & Johnson in a vaginal mesh case. The verdict included $100 million in punitive damages and was the largest contested liability verdict in Pennsylvania history. (McFarland)
$109MILLION
Premises Liability
The jury verdict included $48 million compensatory and $61 million punitive damages for the family of a woman killed by a fallen electric line. (Goretzka)
