Alumni Profile: InKLINEd To Win

Pennsylvania - New Jersey - New York - Nationwide

by Amy Black

Everyday Tom Kline handles the kind of challenging, heart-wrenching, high profile cases that motivate people to go to law school. They are the tragedies you hear about and can't forget---the ones that impact peoples' lives forever and are almost always a matter of life and death.

The couple from Philadelphia who died in an automobile accident on the way home from a school conference. The woman from Allentown whose breast cancer was misdiagnosed. The child from Indiana, PA who sustained a hypoxic brain injury from obstetrical negligence. The woman from Reading who was paralyzed by a faulty seat belt design. The young mother from Lancaster who died a day after her cardiac medications were changed. The woman from Doylestown who died from liver failure after taking the drug Rezulin. The man from Pittsburgh who was rendered quadriplegic from an industrial accident. And many others injured by defective products, medical mistakes, and accidents that led to unimaginable injuries and death.

In the courtroom, and often later in front of the TV camera speaking for the victims and their families, is Thomas R. Kline, L'78.

But you don't have to be a classmate, Duquesne Law graduate or even a resident of Philadelphia, where he lives, to recognize his name. No stranger to the media, his multi-million dollar verdicts and headlining cases have kept him in the national news spotlight for the past 20 years. You need only hit his firm's Web site, www.klinespecter.com to see a sampling of the news stories and articles that headline cases he and his firm have litigated, leading to multimillion dollar jury awards, safety changes in product design and manufacture, and changes in negligent medical practices.

Kline is a partner of Kline & Specter, a Philadelphia law firm which handles catastrophic injury and complex personal injury litigation cases. kline's statewide practice is in catastrophic personal injury, medical malpractice and product, premises and automobile liability cases. He and his partner, Shanin Specter, joined forces nine years ago to open Kline & Specter in January 1995. Their firm also handles class action cases, including consumer fraud cases.

Born and raised in the small blue-collar, coal-mining town of Hazleton, PA, Kline's modest upbringing keeps him grounded, as he faces repeated difficult cases and is repeatedly thrust into the spotlight by his high-profile practice. Kline also believes that his roots have been a source of motivation. He keeps a letter from his father dated April 29, 1969, framed in his office as a continued source of motivation. The letter reminds Kline, then a college senior, of what he can accomplish, and is a constant reminder of the strong family support Kline received while growing up. He has that same family support today. He lives in center city Philadelphia with his wife of 30 years, Paula, and his son Zac, a high school senior who is Dad's squash partner, his daughter, Hillary, like Mom and Dad before her, is a school teacher. Kline taught sixth grade for six years before going to law school in 1975. Now in his 25th year of practice, Kline maintains a sense of caring and involvement, and a good sense of humor. Kline believes that most lawyers take themselves too seriously, and that "each day should include at least one hearty laugh."

For Kline, personal and job satisfaction are achieved knowing his trial victories for individual clients have impacted society. He says he enjoys knowing that the outcome of his cases often initiates real change, such as making a product safer for everyone. Or, as Kline puts it, "something good can come out of something bad." He says his goal as a litigator is always to "strive for the ability to use civil law to effectuate a positive change that goes beyond fully compensating victims for tragedies."

The weighty goal is one he has reached again and again. In a front-page profile article, the Philadelphia Daily News dubbed Kline "the Babe Ruth of personal injury litigation," and Philadelphia Magazine not only designated him as one of the "Best Lawyers" in Philadelphia, but also put him on its exclusive "76 Smartest Philadelphians" list, labeling him "the Sammy Sosa of trial lawyers." He has been described as most comfortable and at his best in the middle of a packed courtroom.

If there is a second place where Kline is equally comfortable, it is in the classroom. you can find him teaching trial advocacy in the Temple Law School LLM Program or at Jefferson Medical School teaching second year medical students how to avoid medical malpractice. you can often find him teaching for PBI and PTLA and in other CLE settings. Perhaps the best place to see Kline sharing his passion for his profession and his natural charisma on stage. Kline regularly brings courtroom drama to life in the one-man show, "Trial as Theatre", at the Wilma Theatre in Philadelphia. In a recent "Masters of Advocacy" program for PBI, "The Modern Trial," Kline shares his strategies and teachings with a statewide audience and in repeat video showings around the state. kline draws from his years of litigation experience and uses him commanding presence to teach others effective communication, persuasion, techniques and trial strategy.

Kline is a member of the Inner Circle of Advocates, described by the Washington Post as "a select group of 100 of the nations's most celebrated trial lawyers." He is also a fellow of the prestigious American College of Trial Lawyers and is a fellow of the exclusive International Academy of Trial Lawyers. He is a Master of the Bench of the University of Pennsylvania Law School American Inns of Court. He serves United State Senators Arlen Specter and Rick Santorum as Chairman of the Federal Judicial Nominating Commission for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Kline has been actively involved in the process of selection of Federal judges in Pennsylvania since 1989.

In January 2000, Kline was selected as the National Law Journal's "Litigator of the Month" for his $51 million verdict against the regional transit authority, SEPTA, on behalf of a child who lost his foot due to faulty escalator maintenance. The case resulted in the repair of the entire escalator system and a total reorganization of the legal department at SEPTA. This was the only one of a long list of Kline's seven and eight figure jury verdicts throughout the state. Of the many substantial courtroom victories like this, Kline says that the most significant one is always the one I'm working on at the time." Some of the cases he is working on now include the highly publicized Motiva Refinery explosion in Delaware, the collapse of Pier 34 in Philadelphia, and the death of a Philadelphia school boy from a folding cafeteria table. Kline predicts that these civil lawsuits will significantly impact industrial, recreational and school safety.

The National Law Journal put Tom Kline on its short list of Top 10 Litigators in Pennsylvania, and in its 2000 "Winners" section declared this Duquesne Law School graduate as one of America's Top 10 Litigators that year.

Kline's advice to anyone interested in following in his career footsteps as a trial lawyer is "to find a good mentor, learn the law well, and first clerk for the best lawyer and judge you can find."

While at Duquesne Law School, Kline was a law clerk to Stephen Zappala, who later became the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Kline then went on after graduation to become a law clerk to the esteemed former Justice Thomas W. Pomeroy of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Before beginning his own firm with Shanin Specter nine years ago, Kline and Specter practiced law with Jim Beasley, for whom the Temple University School of Law is now named. Kline was the recipient of the Distinguished Student Award at Duquesne Law. He was also the editor of Juris for two years, and was the first law student to serve as Editor-in-Chief as a second- and third-year day student.

Kline is an avid Philadelphia 76ers fan. You can find him courtside at most games. Kline's favorite pleasure, however, is spending time with his family, either at their beach home in New Jersey, or at a concert or Broadway play in New York City.

No matter where you run into Tom Kline, he's likely top be succeeding at his goal of accomplishing good for his clients and society through his dedication to the law. While Tom Kline is almost always dressed in black, his clients and others believe he wears a white hat for the causes he champions.