The Doctor/Lawyer Team

Kline & Specter, P.C., has something rare among law firms that makes it especially able to litigate cases that involve drugs and medical issues. It is their team of lawyers who are also doctors. But not just any doctors, they are skilled and highly educated physicians who share decades of quality experience.

Their expertise spans a gamut of fields, from anesthesiology to organ transplant surgery. These doctors have teamed with other attorneys to produce major victories for the firm, including jury verdicts of $18.5 million, $25 million and $49.6 million for Kline & Specter clients.

Lisa Dagostino, M.D., J.D., MBE is a doctor and award-winning medical researcher who holds dual degrees in law and bioethics from the University of Pennsylvania. She has had a distinguished academic career, earning her bachelor’s degree in 1991 at Princeton University and her M.D. in 1995 at the UMDNJ Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, where she completed her residency training through the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences. Dr. Dagostino was managing editor of the inaugural volume of The American Journal of Bioethics produced by Penn's Center for Bioethics. She continues to do research in the complex medical field of bioethics – including topics such as medical errors. She has a special interest in women’s issues as they pertain to health care law.

Carol R. Dembe, M.D., J.D. received her law degree from the Temple University Beasley School of Law. Before joining Kline & Specter she had worked as an emergency room physician at five hospitals, including Good Samaritan Hospital , in Lebanon , Pa. , Hahnemann University Hospital , in Philadelphia , and Montgomery Hospital , in Norristown, Pa. She also has experience in hospital administration, including as director of  Hahnemann's Emergency Department of Clinical Operations. She attended Barnard College and the University of Oregon as an undergraduate and earned her medical degree at Dartmouth Medical School . Dr. Dembe did her residency at Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York , where she was elected chief resident.

Mark A. Hoffman, M.S., M.D., J.D., LL.M. received his undergraduate degree from Amherst College, an M.S. degree in biology and biochemistry from Tulane University, and an M.D. from Columbia University. He then completed general surgery residency at Harvard University, followed by a two-year fellowship in pediatric surgery at the Hospital for Sick Children and the University of Toronto. Dr. Hoffman then went on to complete a solid organ transplantation fellowship at Cambridge University in Cambridge, England. Dr. Hoffman practiced as an academic liver and kidney transplant surgeon and general pediatric surgeon at Tufts University in Boston, and more recently, the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Hoffman also served in the United States Army Medical Corps during Desert Shield and Storm and rose to the rank of Colonel prior to leaving the Army. Dr. Hoffman received his J.D. degree from the University of Pennsylvania, where he is presently completing a master's degree in bioethics. He subsequently completed the LL.M. Program in Trial Advocacy at Temple University’s Beasley School of Law, graduating with honors. He has authored or co-authored more than 50 journal articles, 11 book chapters, and one book on congenital liver disease titled Current Controversies in Biliary Atresia. He has presented his laboratory and clinical research at national and international medical conferences and society meetings.

Geary L. Yeisley, M.D., J.D. did his undergraduate studies at Lehigh University, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and graduated magna cum laude. He earned his medical degree at Hahnemann Medical College in Philadelphia in 1978, and did his general surgical residency at Lehigh Valley Hospital, in Allentown, where he went on to become chief surgical resident. From 1991 to 1997, Dr. Yeisley was director of the Open Heart Unit at Lehigh Valley Hospital and was chief of the Division of Cardio-thoracic Surgery. He was affiliated with seven Pennsylvania hospitals in the Harrisburg and Allentown-Bethlehem areas. Dr. Yeisley has also taken special studies in cardiothoracic surgery, micro-vascular surgery and advanced trauma life support. He has held faculty positions at Kings College in Scranton and DeSales University in Allent own. Dr. Yeisley earned his J.D. from Villanova University Law School.

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Garabet “Gary” M. Zakeosian, M.D., J.D., LL.M. received his undergraduate degree from Franklin & Marshall College, earning a B.A. in physics in 1973. He then attended the Milton S. Hershey College of Medicine of the Pennsylvania State University, graduating with an M.D. in 1977. Dr. Zakeosian completed an internship at the Bryn Mawr Hospital and did residency training in anesthesiology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He completed post-residency fellowships in pediatric anesthesia and intensive care medicine and in cardiac anesthesia at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Zakeosian obtained his board certification in anesthesiology in 1981. He has practiced at Bryn Mawr Hospital, Frankford Hospital and Paoli Memorial Hospital. He has extensive experience with pain management and was co-director of the Frankford Hospital Pain Management Clinic. Dr. Zakeosian earned his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, where he has also completed course work toward a master’s degree in bioethics. In May 2007 he earned an LL.M. in Trial Advocacy from the Temple University Beasley School of Law, winning the Faculty Award for courtroom performance skills.

Earlie H. Francis III, M.D. is slated to join Kline & Specter in Fall 2008. He is currently in his third year at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law while also working as an emergency doctor at Allegheny Valley Hospital in Pittsburgh. Dr. Francis has worked as a doctor, instructor and administrator at several western Pennsylvania hospitals. A graduate of the University of Virginia and its School of Medicine, Dr. Francis did h is residency in emergency and internal medicine at Allegheny General Hospital. He served on the hospital’s Ethics Committee and in 2003 won its Mentor Award, given to the instructor who best personifies the ideal emergency physician. Dr. Francis also was director of emergency medicine at St. Francis General Hospital in Lawrenceville, where he was on the hospital’s Ethics Committee and its Executive Committee of the Medical Staff.

(Read the doctors’ complete biographies and those of the other lawyers at Kline & Specter by clicking on Lawyer Profiles.)

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