Kline & Specter, P.C. is among the preeminent law firms in the United States concentrating in personal injury litigation. Headed by Tom Kline and Shanin Specter, both named among the “Best Lawyers in America,” Lawdragon's Leading Litigators in America and Pennsylvania Super Lawyers 2007, the firm has won major settlements and jury awards in a wide array of practice areas ranging from workplace injuries to medical malpractice, from auto accidents to premises liability.

The law firm, with some 30 attorneys (several of whom are also doctors), is a leader in handling product liability claims, including pharmaceutical cases such as that involving Vioxx, the pain medication removed from the market after it was linked to an increased risk of strokes and heart attacks.

Many of Kline & Specter’s legal victories have made news, with hundreds of stories in newspapers and on television, including nationally on ABC's Nightline and 20/20 shows. The firm's attorneys have achieved verdicts and settlements that were among the largest ever in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and across the United States. Some of the notable: a federal jury’s $153 million award against Ford Motor Co. (see The White Case); a $100 million verdict for a baby injured due to medical malpractice (Vlasny); a $49.6 million award in a hospital-error case (Caruso); a $40.5 million settlement in the Village Green case in which six people were killed in a gas explosion; a $38.2 million verdict involving an auto accident at a dangerous intersection (Robley); a $36.4 million settlement in the death of an oil refinery worker (Motiva); a $33.1 million verdict in a breast cancer diagnosis case (Welteroth); and a $29.6 million settlement in the Pier 34 collapse in which three women were killed. (For more, see Major Victories)

While Kline & Specter has won scores of seven- and eight-figure awards, it does not walk away from “smaller” cases or those involving formidable opponents. It has forged sizeable verdicts and settlements on behalf of poor, elderly and handicapped clients (see Weightman, Borkowski, Shapiro, Lloyd). Case in point: a North Philadelphia boy, Shareif Hall, whose foot was torn off in a city subway escalator, won a $51 million jury award against SEPTA.

Beyond monetary awards, the firm’s cases have affected safety changes in government and industry. 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.

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 maximum results.