Laurence S. Berman

Nadeem A. Bezar, a partner at Kline & Specter, is an accomplished and skilled attorney who has won scores of million-dollar-plus verdicts and settlements while also serving as an active member of the legal and educational communities. In roughly a one-year period alone, Bezar achieved more than $100 million in arbitration awards and settlements, mostly in matters involving sex trafficking and all concerning abuse of minors. In the most recent case, Bezar in February 2024 won an arbitratio...

Jerry M. Lehocky is a partner at Pond Lehocky Stern Giordano. Mr. Lehocky has been a litigator of workers' compensation and Social Security since being admitted to practice in 1985. Initially, his practice involved representing employers and insurance companies. In 1991, Mr. Lehocky began representing claimants exclusively in the areas of workers' compensation and Social Security disability. A former chairman of the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Workers' Compensation Section (for 12 consecutive ...

Over the course of his 45-year career, Ed has conducted more than 100 jury and non-jury trials, arbitrations, mediations, and appeals. He represents businesses in civil litigation matters including contracts, products, construction, employment, trademarks, negligence, and insurance, and has handled matters in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and several other states throughout the country. His cases have involved alleged defects in consumer and industrial products, construction errors and delays, tr...

James J. McHugh, Jr. has obtained some of the most significant legal victories in American history across his years in practice, focusing on medical malpractice, and other civil litigation. Mr. McHugh’s experience in medical malpractice matters ranges from failure to diagnose cancer to complex pediatric litigation. He was selected among the American Trial Lawyers Association’s Top 100 Trial Lawyers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey from 2008 through 2015. He has also been selected by...

Stephanie Peet is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Employment Law - Management, Litigation - Labor and Employment and Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Defendants. Stephanie, who practices law in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has been recognized since 2024. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Stephanie is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Jason M. Shargel joined the firm’s Philadelphia office in March 2009 as a member in the Business Law Department. Jason practices in the firm's Corporate Law Practice Group, and has more than 30 years of experience in the private practice of corporate and securities law. Having begun his career in the SEC's Enforcement Division, his practice includes mergers and acquisitions, as well as the representation of issuers and funds in venture capital, growth capital and other private equity fi...

Jessica E. Christie is an Associate in the Labor & Employment group of the Pittsburgh office. Her practice focuses on the defense of employers in workplace-related litigation, with particular emphasis on legal writing, research, and motion practice. She brings a broad civil litigation background to the group, having previously handled cases involving insurance defense, product liability, and medical malpractice. Jessica began her legal career as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Gary ...

Melissa M. Baxter, a partner at Kline & Specter, focuses on medical malpractice and catastrophic personal injury litigation. As co-lead counsel, Baxter won a $600,000 verdict in June 2024 in Middlesex County, New Jersey, on behalf of the estate of an elderly Alzheimer's patient who died after suffering multiple fractures and a traumatic brain injury at a psychiatric hospital. Before joining Kline & Specter, Baxter was an attorney at Rossetti DeVoto Medori & Baxter, PC, in Cherry H...

JoyAnn’s practice is primarily dedicated to franchise law, representing franchise clients in connection with transactional, regulatory compliance, and litigation matters. JoyAnn has extensive experience in representing a full array of franchisors, from emerging franchise concepts to mature brands and has served her clients across the entire spectrum of franchise issues. JoyAnn counsels brands on the development of franchise programs, inclusive of corporate structuring and drafting discl...

Nils B. Snell is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Product Liability Litigation - Defendants. Nils B., who practices law in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has been recognized since 2023. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Nils B. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.