Super Lawyers includes the best 5 percent or less of all lawyers in a state, and Kline & Specter lawyers were named as 2026 Pennsylvania Super Lawyers or Rising Stars, with Tom Kline selected as the state’s No. 1 attorney for a nationally unprecedented 23rd straight year and Shanin Specter selected for the 23rd year among the state’s Top 10. Kline was also named to the Super Lawyers Top 5 Pennsylvania Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Plaintiff attorneys list.
The firm has been named among the nation’s top firms by Super Lawyers, with attorneys recognized for excellence in litigation. Super Lawyers has recommended the firm as one people should seek out for representation in civil matters. For individuals evaluating legal representation in Pennsylvania, this level of sustained recognition demonstrates years of positive peer review within the state’s legal community.
Other Kline & Specter lawyers selected by Super Lawyers 2026 span the firm's core practice areas, including trial and appellate advocacy, mass tort litigation, and catastrophic injury representation:
Kline & Specter’s 2026 Super Lawyers recognition includes the following list placements:
- Thomas Kline - named to the Top 100 Pennsylvania Super Lawyers list, ranked No. 1 in the Top 10 Pennsylvania Super Lawyers list, included in the Top 100 Philadelphia Super Lawyers list, and named to the Top 5 Pennsylvania Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Plaintiff attorneys list
- Shanin Specter - named to the Top 100 Pennsylvania Super Lawyers list, included among the Top 10 Pennsylvania Super Lawyers list, and named to the Top 100 Philadelphia Super Lawyers list
- Charles L. Becker, head of the firm’s Appellate Division - named to the Top 100 Pennsylvania and Top 100 Philadelphia Super Lawyers lists
- Nadeem Bezar - named to the Top 100 Pennsylvania and Top 100 Philadelphia Super Lawyers lists
The full 2026 list can be seen below:
Top 100: 2026 Pennsylvania Super Lawyers
- Charles L. Becker
- Marni Berger
- Nadeem A. Bezar
- Colin Burke
- Lorraine Donnelly
- Christopher A. Gomez
- Dominic C. Guerrini
- David K. Inscho
- Priscilla E. Jimenez
- Thomas Kline
- Ruxandra M. Laidacker
- Tobias Millrood
- Regan S. Safier
- Shanin Specter
- Michael A. Trunk
- James J. Waldenberger
Top 10: 2026 Pennsylvania Super Lawyers
- Thomas Kline (ranked #1)
- Shanin Specter
2026 Pennsylvania Rising Stars
- Timothy A. Burke
- Elizabeth A. Crawford
- Patrick J. Fitzgerald
- Helen Lawless
- Braden Lepisto
- Philip M. Pasquarello
- Benjamin Present
- Corrie A. Woods
Top 100: 2026 Philadelphia Super Lawyers
Top 5: 2026 Personal Injury Plaintiff Pennsylvania Super Lawyers
The firm has been named among the nation’s top firms by Super Lawyers, with attorneys recognized for excellence in litigation. Super Lawyers has recommended the firm as one people should seek out for representation in civil matters. For individuals evaluating legal representation in Pennsylvania, this level of sustained recognition demonstrates years of positive peer review within the state’s legal community.
For Kline, becoming Pennsylvania Super Lawyers’ Top Point Getter for the 23rd straight year was a first for any lawyer in any state. He has been recognized over the years for numerous legal victories, including his $8 billion punitive damages verdict against Johnson & Johnson in a Risperdal case. A past president of the Inner Circle of Advocates, Kline has also won jury verdicts of $80 million and $41 million in cases against Johnson & Johnson in transvaginal mesh cases. Kline was a leader in litigation involving victims of the Amtrak 188 derailment that resulted in a $265 million settlement.
Specter won a $153 million verdict against Ford Motor Company for the family of a young boy who was run over and killed when a parking brake failed in an F-series truck, as well as a $109 million verdict for the family of a woman killed by a fallen power line – a case that later settled for $105 million. Specter has also won verdicts of $12.5 million and $13.5 million for women injured by surgically implanted vaginal mesh products.
Kline & Specter's litigation record includes some of the largest results in Pennsylvania history, including two billion-dollar verdicts among many results obtained through settlement or trial:
- $8 billion - Punitive damages verdict against Johnson & Johnson involving the drug Risperdal, the largest verdict in Pennsylvania history and among the largest ever in the nation. (Risperdal)
- $2.25 billion - Jury verdict, including $2 billion in punitive damages, against Monsanto for a Pennsylvania man in a Roundup cancer case. (McKivison)
- $120 million - Verdict against Johnson & Johnson in a vaginal mesh case, the largest contested liability verdict in Pennsylvania history. (McFarland)
- $95.6 million - Recovery for a woman catastrophically injured in a Philadelphia building collapse, the largest personal injury recovery in Pennsylvania history (Plekan)
These results reflect Kline & Specter's approach of preparing each matter for trial. Some cases resolve through settlement, but the firm proceeds under the assumption that any matter may be tried before a jury. You can read about these and many of the firm’s positive case results on the Major Victories page.
Super Lawyers is an independent service that rates outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The multi-phase selection process includes independent research, peer nominations and peer evaluations in voting across the state, followed by a Blue Ribbon Panel review. The review is conducted independently within each attorney’s specific practice area, helping ensure the final list reflects genuine peer standing rather than self-promotion.
Kline & Specter’s veteran legal team has a robust litigation presence across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and New York. Jordan Merson, who heads the firm’s New York City office, has been named a New York Super Lawyer, and Gilbert Shelsby and Robert Leoni, members of the firm’s Delaware office, have been named Super Lawyers in that state. Melissa Baxter is a Super Lawyers Rising Star in New Jersey.
Click to read a description of the selection methodology of Super Lawyers. No aspect of this information has been approved by the Supreme Court of any state.
