Thomas R. Kline

Tom Kline

Thomas R. (Tom) Kline (born 1947) is an American lawyer. He is best known for personal injury cases that have helped shape Pennsylvania law and resulted in corporate, institutional and governmental changes throughout the civil justice system.[1] The law school at Drexel University is named for Kline. He is a partner in Kline & Specter and a member and past president (2008-2009) of the Inner Circle of Advocates.[2]

Education

Kline earned his undergraduate degree from Albright College and has been given the school's Distinguished Alumni award.[3] He attended Lehigh University, where he earned a master's degree in American History and completed his Ph.D. course work. Kline attended Duquesne University School of Law, graduating with the Distinguished Student Award and later receiving the school’s Distinguished Alumni Award.[4] He went on to work as law clerk to Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Thomas W. Pomeroy.[5]

Born in 1947 in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, Tom Kline grew up in the Pennsylvania anthracite coal region. His father worked as a dress factory manager.[6] Kline taught sixth grade for several years before attending law school. Following law school, Kline was an associate at The Beasley Firm in Philadelphia before partnering with Shanin Specter to open his own firm, Kline & Specter in 1995.[7] In addition to his work as an attorney, Kline has appeared on television news programs as a part of discussions regarding law and legal issues, including providing commentary on ABC World News[8] and Good Morning America.[9] Another example of his television appearances is an edition of ABC’s Nightline, which featured a case he won for a woman who died after a missed diagnosis of breast cancer.[10]

Kline’s cases include the Vioxx litigation, which resulted in a $4.85 billion settlement paid by Merck & Co,[11] for which he served as a member of the Plaintiff’s Steering Committee that directed the federal MDL proceedings against Merck.[12] In the civil rights case Hall v. SEPTA, Kline won a $51 million award against the Philadelphia mass transit agency for a boy whose foot was torn off in a subway escalator.[13] In Davis v. Motiva, a 2013 case of Kline’s, there was a $36.4 million settlement against an oil refinery operator in the death of a worker killed in an explosion in which he fell into a tank of sulfuric acid.[14]

Tom Kline, Trial As Theatre, 2009

In Manlove v. Scully Co. Kline was lead attorney for 11 of 12 plaintiffs in an apartment explosion cases that resulted in a $40.5 million settlement.[15] In that case, six people died and six were injured in a 2001 explosion and fire that erupted at a Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, apartment complex after heavy flooding dislodged a gas dryer.[16] In the 2010 case Leach v. Chad Youth Enhancement Center, Kline reached a settlement of $10.5 million. This was a federal lawsuit in the case of a Philadelphia teenager who died after he was placed in a restraint hold at a Tennessee treatment center.[17] In the December 2011 verdict in Zauflik[18] v. Pennsbury School District, Kline's case resulted in a $14 million verdict for a teenager who lost her leg after she was run over by a school bus at her high school.[19]

Theatre career

Kline has written and performed three productions of his show titled Trial as Theatre.[20]

Awards and recognition

In 2000 Kline was named by the National Law Journal among its "Ten of America's Top Litigators”[21] following the Hall v. SEPTA case. Kline was chosen for nine consecutive years (2004–2012) as the No. 1 attorney in Pennsylvania by Super Lawyers.[22] The publication Best Lawyers selected Kline as its “Lawyer of the Year” for 2013 for Philadelphia Medical Malpractice and in a previous year as its Philadelphia Personal Injury Litigator of the Year.[23][24] He is also an elected member of the American Law Institute. [25]

Philanthropy

Tom Kline is chair of the Board of Advisors of the Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law, previously known as the Earle Mack School of Law[26] and is a member of the Board of Trustees of Drexel University.[27] On September 17, 2014, it was announced that he donated $50 million to Drexel University to rename its law school and develop the Thomas R. Kline Institute of Trial Advocacy of the Kline School of Law.[28][29]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.phillymag.com/news/2014/09/18/drexel-renames-law-school-thomas-r-kline/#AYKs4WppAxlC3cQ1.99
  2. ↑ , Inner Circle of Advocates
  3. ↑ "2004 Alumni Association Award Winners: Awarded Alumni Reunion Weekend, April 30 – May 2". The Albright Reporter. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  4. ↑ Distinguished Student Award, 2012,Duquesne University.
  5. ↑ "Former Pennsylvania Justice Pomeroy Dies at 94, "By Tom Namako, The Legal Intelligencer, December 23, 2002
  6. ↑ Dale, MaryClaire. "Trial lawyer gives $50M to Drexel law school". The Big Story. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  7. ↑ Davies, Paul. "Wheels Of Justice He's Showing A Lot Of Class $51m Lawyer Credits Teaching Experience". Philly.com. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  8. ↑ Tom Kline comments on Sandusky trial on YouTube, ABC World News
  9. ↑ Tom Kline comments on Sandusky trial on YouTube Good Morning America
  10. ↑ The Lackman case. Missed diagnosis of breast cancer on YouTube, ABC Nightline, October 22, 2003
  11. ↑ "Merck Agrees to $4.85 Billion Settlement in Vioxx Claims", By Amaris Elliott-Engel, The Legal Intelligencer, November 12, 2007
  12. ↑ "Another Risk Factor For Merck", Bloomberg Business Week July 29, 2007
  13. ↑ "$50 Million for boy who lost foot," By Chris Brennan, The Philadelphia Daily News, December 15, 1999; "Documents Uncovered Mid-Trial Fuel $51 Million Injury Verdict vs. SEPTA," By Claudia N. Ginanni, The Legal Intelligencer, December 15, 1999
  14. ↑ "Motiva To Pay $36.4 Million In Man's Death," By Shannon P. Duffy, The Legal Intelligencer, September 10, 2003; "Motiva to pay $36.4 million to settle suit in fatal tank explosion," By David B. Caruso,The Associated Press, September 10, 2003; "Motiva to pay millions to victim's family," By Jeff Montgomery, The News Journal, Delaware County, September 10, 2003
  15. ↑ "$40.5 Mil. Agreement Reached in Lethal Fire Case," By Asher Hawkins, The Legal intelligencer, October 1, 2004
  16. ↑ "City native bolsters 'Ruthian' reputation," By Ed Conrad, Hazleton Standard Speaker, October 8, 2004
  17. ↑ "$10.5M ends suit over slain DHS teen His family dropped claims against the city and agency, which had sent him to a Tenn. treatment center", By Troy Graham The Philadelphia Inquirer, February 12, 2010
  18. ↑ School Bus Accident, Pennsbury High School
  19. ↑ "Jury awards $14 million for loss of leg due to bus," By Bill Reed, The Philadelphia Inquirer, December 06, 2011
  20. ↑ Trial As Theatre, Philly.com, November 07, 2011
  21. ↑ "Winners" edition of The National Law Journal, 8/14/2000
  22. ↑ "No. 1 attorney in Pennsylvania for nine consecutive years, Super Lawyers Magazine
  23. ↑ "Tom Kline and Shanin Specter of Kline & Specter On Achieving Some of Pennsylvania's Largest Verdicts". Best Lawyers. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  24. ↑ Campisi, Jon. "‘Best Lawyers’ names Philadelphia’s Tom Kline medical malpractice ‘Lawyer of the Year’". The Pennsylvania Record. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  25. ↑ https://www.ali.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=about.bio&bio_id=648&fromne=1
  26. ↑ Drexel University Earle Mack School of Law, Chairman
  27. ↑ Board of Trustees of Drexel University, Member
  28. ↑ Drexel Law gets $50M gift, the largest ever for the university, Philadelphia Business Journal, September 17, 2014]
  29. ↑ Mathis, Joel. "Drexel Renames Law School After Thomas R. Kline". Philly Magazine. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
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