Elia Robertson
Elia Caldwell, a partner at the firm, is a former assistant Philadelphia district attorney and standout law school trial team competitor who litigates medical malpractice, personal injury, product liability and sexual assault cases at Kline & Specter.
Most recently, in June 2023, Caldwell, as lead counsel, won an $8 million jury verdict in Montgomery County against Abington Memorial Hospital in the case of a botched cesarean section that led to the mother suffering two cardiac arrests and requiring an emergency hysterectomy. (Read article)
Also in 2023, Caldwell secured confidential seven and eight-figure settlements in three related cases involving infant deaths resulting from a hospital's negligence.
Prior to that, she served as co-counsel in three of the firm’s largest cases of recent years, cases that brought lengthy trials and resulted in jury verdicts for women injured by surgically inserted vaginal mesh products manufactured and sold by one of America’s behemoth corporations, Johnson & Johnson.
One of those cases resulted in a $120 million verdict in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court against J&J subsidiary Ethicon Inc. for injuries suffered by a woman implanted with a vaginal mesh device. The jury verdict, including $100 million in punitive damages, was the largest at the time in the national vaginal mesh litigation and the largest contested liability personal injury verdict in Pennsylvania history. (Read article)
Caldwell was co-counsel at another trial that culminated in a $41 million verdict for a Pennsylvania woman who suffered permanent injuries also from an Ethicon vaginal mesh device. The verdict, following a five-week trial in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court, included $25 million in punitive damages. (Read article)
In late 2017, Robertson was co-counsel in a trial that concluded in a $57.1 million jury verdict — including $7.1 million in compensatory and $50 million in punitive damages — against J&J for a Pennsylvania woman injured by the company's vaginal mesh device. (Read the article)
In addition to her extensive trial experience, Caldwell has negotiated numerous settlements for her clients in catastrophic injury cases.
Caldwell has been selected as a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer Rising Star each year from 2019 to 2024. The independent rating service designation places her as among the top 2.5 percent of attorneys in the state who are 40 or younger.
While in the DA’s office, Caldwell, among other things, tried felony preliminary hearings and misdemeanor bench trials. Her work in the Juvenile Unit involved domestic violence and sexual assault cases, including those involving adult perpetrators sexually and physically abusing minor children.
Caldwell’s prior experience includes a clerkship with Community Legal Services, Inc., where she worked with the elderly and people with disabilities. Robertson also spent a year while in law school working with Philadelphia Legal Assistance, where she represented low-income litigants seeking Protection from Abuse orders and helped resolve child custody disputes.
Caldwell earned her law degree from the Thomas R. Kline School of Law at Drexel University, where she graduated with honors and won several academic awards, including two CALI Excellence for the Future Awards for best student performances in the field of trial advocacy. She also received the James J. Manderino Award for Trial Advocacy from the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association.
Caldwell competed nationally in both mock trial and moot court competitions. As a member of the mock trial team, she was a regional champion in the Texas Young Lawyers National Trial Competition and a semi-finalist in the American Association of Justice Trial Advocacy Competition. With the moot court board, Ro won the title of “Best Overall Advocate” in the school’s internal competition, and won the Best Student Brief Award in the Vanderbilt National First Amendment Competition. She also served as both a Vice President and President to the board.
Additionally, Caldwell won a national writing competition for student-authored articles held by the University of Pennsylvania Law School’s Law Review, which recently published her article.
Caldwell earned her undergraduate degree with honors from Saint Joseph’s University, where she was a member of the Alpha Sigma Nu Jesuit Honors Fraternity and Alpha Kappa Delta, the International Sociology Honor Society.
Caldwell is admitted to practice law in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. She is a member of the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association.
Elia Caldwell In The News:
Robertson, Dagostina get $8M Verdict against hospital over botched Cesarean Section, Law360, 6/16/23; The Legal Intelligencer, 6/15/23
Kline & Specter Win $47.1 Million Verdict Vs. J&J In Vaginal Mesh Case, KYW Radio 9/8/17
