For more than 30 years, Kathleen (Kate) has devoted her practice exclusively to medical malpractice defense, representing physicians, hospitals, nurses, nursing homes and other health care facilities.
Kate has been involved in numerous high-exposure cases involving brain-injured infants as well as adults with significant long-standing injuries. In those cases, she has been involved in the retention and preparation of highly qualified and sophisticated experts who have assisted in helping achieve defense verdicts for her clients. Since beginning her career, Kate has handled more than 700 medical malpractice matters. She has tried more than 125 cases to verdict, with the overwhelming majority of them being defense verdicts.
After receiving a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Delaware in 1981, Kate subsequently attended Dickenson School of Law in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where she received her juris doctor in 1984. While at Dickenson, she was on the National Trial Moot Court Team and was the winner in the ATLA National Student Trial Advocacy Competition in 1984. Prior to joining Marshall Dennehey in 1989, Kate worked for four years at McEldrew, Quinn, Scace & Selfridge where she did medical malpractice defense work.
Kate has lectured for various organizations over the course of her career, including the Pennsylvania Insurance Association, and has conducted continuing medical education seminars at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. Additionally, Kate regularly lectures at a large medical school in Philadelphia on litigation related issues, including mock depositions.
Honors & Awards
•AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell
•National Champion, ATLA Trial Association Competition
•Pennsylvania Super Lawyers (2012-2022)
Classes/Seminars Taught
•Issues in Medical Malpractice, Defense Institute
Published Works
•'Seismic Shift in Pennsylvania Medical Malpractice Informed Consent Cases,' co-author, Defense Digest, Vol. 23, No. 4, December 2017
•'Beating, Gunfire and Loss of Employment Not Foreseeable From Misdiagnosis of Syphilis,' co-author, Defense Digest, Vol. 7, No. 1, February 2001
Results
Defense Verdict Secured in Chester County Medical Malpractice Case
We obtained a defense verdict after a week-long jury trial in the Chester County Court of Common Pleas in a medical malpractice case. The plaintiff alleged she sustained a bowel perforation injury in the course of a robotic-laparoscopic hysterectomy. During the course of the procedure, a general surgeon was called in to evaluate the bowels for injuries. There were no injuries found, so the procedure was completed, and the patient was discharged the following day. Two days later, the patient returned in critically ill condition, and a bowel perforation in the sigmoid colon was identified. The plaintiff alleged the health care providers negligently failed to detect the injury during the hysterectomy. After the trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of all defendants.
