Helen Lawless

She also helped secure a $4.5 million verdict in April 2025 in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court against a medical consulting service for an injured worker who had his foot amputated because the helpline his employer told him to call deterred him from getting medical help. (Read the article.)

In 2023, Lawless was co-counsel in litigation that produced a $9 million settlement with a rideshare company and a Days Inn hotel on claims they enabled a man to rape an 11-year-old girl. The man, who was charged criminally, reportedly met the girl on Instagram and then arranged for the rideshare to bring her to his hotel. Since the incident, the rideshare company adopted stricter rules to ensure drivers do not transport unaccompanied minors. (Read the article.)

Immediately prior to joining Kline & Specter, Lawless was an Assistant District Attorney in the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, where she worked in the Municipal Court Unit, the Appeals Unit and, finally, the Major Trials Unit, where she handled all phases of cases, from discovery to plea negotiations to litigating felony criminal trials.

While attending law school, Lawless worked at both plaintiffs and defense law firms in Alexandria, Va., and in New York City, respectively, and also was a legal intern at the Campaign Legal Center in Washington, D.C. Prior to law school, she ran the press department at a strategic litigation nonprofit.

She has been named to Best Lawyers 2024 “Ones to Watch,” those lawyers whom the independent survey recognized “earlier in their careers for their outstanding professional excellence in private practice.” For her efforts, she was selected as a Pennsylvania Rising Star by Super Lawyers in 2024 and 2025. The independent attorney survey group recognizes the top 2.5 percent of attorneys in the state who are 40 or younger or practicing 10 years or less.

Lawless has also been a guest trial advocacy instructor at Stanford Law School.

Lawless was a true standout in both college and law school. At Stanford, she was senior editor and a member of the Articles Committee for the Stanford Law Review, a board member and top oral advocate in the Kirkwood Supreme Court Moot Court competition, and chamption debater. She was named Best Speaker at the National U.S. Debating Championships America’s Cup.

A research paper she authored while at Stanford was used as a school-wide exemplar for incoming students, and the Stanford Center on Philanthropy & Civil Society published her paper titled “Social Media Echo Chambers & Democratic Discourse.” She was also a research assistant working on voting rights issues, worked on college-wide free speech policy issues, and served on the Board of Stanfords's Public Interest Law Society.

As an undergraduate at University College Dublin, she compiled a 3.86 GPA, finished first in both her majors (politics and economics), and also had the top-ranked final thesis in her major. She was elected to student government twice - in her first year over six primary opponents, and as an incumbent, without a challenger. She competed in international debate competitions and was named a Top 20 speaker at the European Debate Championships. She was a champion and finalist in numerous intervarsity competitions, including at Oxford University, Cambridge University, and Trinity College Dublin. She received the Gold Presidential Medal for being the best speaker in her debate society.

Lawless focuses her practice on catastrophic personal injury.