The Doctor/Lawyer Team

Pennsylvania - New Jersey - New York

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., M.Be., LL.M., F.A.C.L.M., a partner at Kline & Specter, 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.

Earlie H. Francis III, M.D.  joined Kline & Specter in Fall 2008 after graduation from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. While attending law school he also 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 his 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.

Mark A. Hoffman, M.S., M.D., J.D., LL.M., a partner in the firm, 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 also earned 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.

Barry G. Magen, M.D., J.D., joined Kline & Specter after six years with law firms that handled medical malpractice defense, work for which has was selected for Pennsylvania Super Lawyers — Rising Stars. Before that, Dr. Magen worked at the Philadelphia law firm Hochberg Napoli Diamond representing patients who were injured due to medical malpractice. His medical career included service as a hospitalist in 1996-97 at the former Mt. Sinai Hospital in South Philadelphia, where he handled emergency room and inpatient care. He did his residency in anesthesia at Thomas Jefferson University and an internship before that at Reading Hospital and Medical Center. Dr. Magen attended Temple University School of Law and also earned his medical degree from Temple. He earned his undergraduate degree in vertebrate physiology from Pennsylvania State University.

Mark S. Polin, M.D., J.D., received his undergraduate degree from Penn State and attended the College of William and Mary before attending medical school at the University of Pittsburgh, where he achieved membership in Alpha Omega Alpha, the honorary medical society for top graduates.  After completing his residency at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Virginia, Dr. Polin lived in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton region where he had a private practice in obstetrics and gynecology for nearly 20 years.  Dr. Polin specialized in advanced vaginal and laparoscopic surgery and was an instructor of laparoscopic surgery techniques at various courses. Dr. Polin joined Kline & Specter in 2010 upon obtaining his J.D. degree from the Penn State Dickinson School of Law.

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 Allentown. Dr. Yeisley earned his J.D. from Villanova University Law School.

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.

W. Paulette Francois, R.N., B.S.N, J.D. is a nurse-lawyer who earned her law degree from Widener University School of Law, her bachelor's degree from Washington University and her degree in nursing from Alfred University, where she graduated magna cum laude and was elected to Sigma Theta Tau Nursing Honor Society. She has represented clients in a wide range of medical malpractice cases, concentrating in plaintiff cases involving birth defects, maternal and fetal care, infectious diseases, internal medicine and cardiac, brain and spinal cord injuries. She also has worked on product liability cases, particularly pharmaceutical mass torts litigation. Francois has been a registered nurse for more than twenty years and has clinical experience in medical surgical nursing, oncology and psychiatric/mental health.

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