Best Lawyers in America for Professional Malpractice Law
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State
Kimberly Longford is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Litigation - Health Care, Medical Malpractice Law - Defendants and Professional Malpractice Law - Defendants. Kimberly, who practices law in Columbia, Maryland, has been recognized since 2022. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Kimberly is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Jim Gottschalk is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Litigation - Insurance, Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants, Product Liability Litigation - Defendants and Professional Malpractice Law - Defendants. Jim, who practices law in St. Louis, Missouri, has been recognized since 2023. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Jim is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
In 2022, D Magazine named Randy to its inaugural Best Lawyers Hall of Fame. Randy commemorated the occasion by writing and recording a song about his legal career. That wasn’t surprising; Randy is a published poet, songwriter, and passionate guitar player. He also is the father of eight children. His wife, architect Tricy Magadini, remodeled a previous headquarters building of the JTB team. He is Board Certified in Civil Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and handles c...
Ryan Bolick is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Professional Malpractice Law - Defendants. Ryan, who practices law in Charlotte, North Carolina, has been recognized since 2026. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Ryan is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Chris Phillips is a partner in the Savannah office of the Firm. His practice areas include medical malpractice defense , construction law , products liability , insurance law, and general litigation . Chris focuses his practice on defense of hospitals, physicians, nurses, and other health care related professionals in medical malpractice matters. He has successfully defended numerous wrongful death and permanent injury cases for various health care providers. Chris also concentrates in the ar...
Richard Zielinski, who practices in Boston and New York, is a nationally known ‘bet the company’ trial lawyer who handles a wide range of complex, high-stakes commercial litigation. He is also known for his specific expertise in legal malpractice defense. According to Chambers USA, Richard is ‘very smart, thorough and knowledgeable. ’ Clients say he is ‘fantastic on his feet’ and ‘thinks seven steps ahead of everyone else.’ He has extensive tria...
John Edwards is a skilled personal injury attorney in North Carolina and the founder of Edwards Kirby, LLP. With a background as a U.S. Senator for North Carolina, the 2004 Democratic Vice-Presidential nominee, and a U.S. presidential candidate, John has long been a proponent for civil rights and protecting those who cannot stand up for themselves. He has been practicing law since 1978 and is an established trial attorney. At Edwards Kirby, LLP, he strives to provide clients with the dedicate...
Kurt Bratten is a partner in our Health Law Department. His practice includes a wide range of civil litigation, transactional work, compliance and other advisory services. Kurt’s primary focus is on counseling health care providers regarding various compliance and transactional matters such as state and federal data security and privacy requirements, managed care and other contractual matters, and state and federal regulatory requirements applicable to various provider groups. He freque...
Tim Eagan enjoys a diverse legal practice concentrating on complex commercial litigation in the trial and appellate courts in both the state and federal court systems. He has represented business clients in a range of industries including energy, securities, exploration, health care, banking and construction. Tim has served as lead counsel in national and state class actions, multidistrict litigation, regulatory actions, antitrust, RICO, securities fraud, shareholder disputes, corporate dispu...
Monty practices in the areas of healthcare malpractice, commercial litigation, products and premises liability, and professional liability. He has tried over 75 cases to verdict in both state and federal courts, is a certified Circuit Court Mediator, and has been consistently recognized by Best Lawyers and Super Lawyers. Monty is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates and the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel. ADMISSIONS South Carolina Bar U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fo...
As Managing Partner, Richard P. Cole is responsible for the overall management and supervision of the firm. He is recognized as a Florida Leading Attorney in the areas of personal injury defense law, medical, legal and professional malpractice. Mr. Cole has experience handling Errors and Omissions claims, including those brought against insurance brokers and agents. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Florida and his Juris Doctor from t...
Sherry Schwartz is a partner in the firm’s West Palm Beach Office. She received her Bachelors of Science, with Highest Honors from the University of Florida, followed by her Juris Doctor Degree from the University of Miami in 2001. Both in law school and in her early years as an attorney, Ms. Schwartz has successfully tried cases for her clients in criminal, civil, family, and probate matters. She joined Cole, Scott, and Kissane with experience in more than 30 jury trials, following her...
For many years Rick Wuestling has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America© in the areas of Legal Malpractice Defense and Personal Injury Defense, for St. Louis, Missouri. In 2012, 2016, 2017 and 2021 Best Lawyers named him as its Lawyer of the Year for Legal Malpractice Defense in St. Louis, Missouri. In 2016, Best Lawyers named him as its St. Louis Lawyer of the Year for Personal Injury Litigation Defense. In past years, Super Lawyers has named him as one of the top fifty lawyers...
Our Methodology
Recognition by Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer review. Our methodology is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area.
The Process
Best Lawyers employs a sophisticated, conscientious, rational, and transparent survey process designed to elicit meaningful and substantive evaluations of the quality of legal services. Our belief has always been that the quality of a peer review survey is directly related to the quality of the voters.