The Lawrence Firm, PSC

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• The Lawrence Firm

Law Firm Overview

Free initial consultation for all personal injury and medical malpractice cases.

The Lawrence Firm consists of 7 trial lawyers who focus their practice on complex cases, frequently involving fraud, bad faith, medical malpractice, products liability, catastrophic injury or death.  The firm is located in its own historic office in the beautiful MainStrasse Village, of Covington, Kentucky.  The firm also has an office in the suburbs of Cincinnati, Ohio.  The firm was founded in 1979 and carries a prestigious AV rating.  All of the firm's lawyers are admitted to practice in both Ohio and Kentucky and its case load is evenly divided between Ohio and Kentucky courts, including the Federal courts and the courts in the surrounding counties of Hamilton, Butler, Clermont, Warren and Montgomery of Ohio and Kenton, Boone, and Campbell of Kentucky.
 
The Lawrence Firm attorneys offer unique and diverse experiences that allow them to provide a comprehensive solution to every case. They work collaboratively to ensure that their clients receive the most effective resolution to their cases. In addition, the firm has a well-rounded team of staff who have years of experience in litigation, state of the art equipment that allows its attorneys to effectively advocate for clients in and out of court, a microscope that takes photographs and projects images on computer monitors, photography equipment, a comprehensive medical library, advanced computer equipment and software, as well as teleconferencing and video conferencing equipment. The firm also has a wide network of experts, vendors and co-counsel with expertise, knowledge and experience in almost any area of litigation.  These resources allow The Lawrence Firm to remain on the cutting edge of the legal practice and to provide its clients with the most effective legal representation.

With its seasoned attorneys and staff, The Lawrence Firm has prosecuted many complex suits.  Recent verdicts include a 30.9 million dollar verdict in Dayton, Ohio on behalf of a brain injured child (July 2009) and a 26 million dollar verdict in Hamilton County Ohio for a young girl who sustained brain injury at birth (2008).  A verdict of 27 million dollars in Boone County, Kentucky was obtained for a young girl suffering brain damage from a medication error in the hours after her birth.  The firm has obtained numerous settlements in excess of a million dollars in other cases of brain injury or death from malpractice, medication error and defective drugs and in cases involving truck and automobile crashes.
 
The Lawrence Firm regularly takes cases that require the attorneys to research and master complicated areas of medicine, law, technology, and industry or regulatory standards. For example, in a case involving a death of a young mother from a defective surgical device, The Lawrence Firm obtained thousands of records concerning the design and testing of the defective devices. FDA standards, manufacturing records and product complaint documents were collated and analyzed and forwarded to experts for their review and opinions.  The case settled before trial on the strength of the evidence discovery and the expert testimony.  Cryogenics came into play in the case of a young girl born with cystic fibrosis acquired from stored frozen sperm that was certified free of the gene for cystic fibrosis. Motor carrier regulations, physics, and human factors science were studied and mastered in several trucking accident wrongful death cases. Firearm safety procedures for movie sets were explored in a case where an actor was shot in the ear at point blank range with a 12 gauge blank.
 
In all of its cases, The Lawrence Firm brings to bear its experience in using state of the art analysis and presentation techniques, including focus groups, animations, accident reconstructions, 3D radiology, day in the life films, settlement videos, and other demonstrative films.
 
While the brain injured child cases are a major focus, the spectrum of cases has been and continues to be broad. The Lawrence Firm has also handled complex commercial and employment cases, disability cases, and cases involving insurance bad faith.  The firm also has served as co-counsel in several class-actions including Whitworth vs. Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company and CCC Information Services, a Rule 23(b)(3) class action involving claims that the defendants combined to utilize an unfair valuation system for total losses that used wholesale prices as opposed to fair market value.  The case involved consideration of more than 600,000 total loss valuations and was settled favorably.
 
The Firm is led by its founder, Richard D. Lawrence.  He has been litigating significant and complex cases for 38 years.  Mr. Lawrence has held national positions of leadership for the American Association for Justice including co-chairman of Medical Negligence Litigation Group, co-chairman of Birth Trauma Litigation Group and chairman of the Professional Negligence Section. On the state level, he has served on the board of the Kentucky Justice Association for many years and led the organization as president in 2003.  He is a member of the Inner Circle of Advocates and is a fellow of the International Society of Barristers.  He is a guest lecturer at the Salmon P. Chase College of Law and has presented CLE programs for the American Association for Justice (formerly ATLA) and numerous state trial bar organizations.  His presentations have been received in many states and also in Toronto, Quebec, England and Australia.  He is recognized by Super Lawyers in both Ohio and Kentucky; Best Lawyers in America; Martindale-Hubble preeminent Lawyers; and Who's Who publications in American Law, in America, and in Ohio.  He received the Trial Lawyer of the Year award by the Kentucky Justice Association in 1996.  He has received lifetime achievement awards from the Northern Kentucky Bar Association and the Salmon P. Chase College of Law.

Thomas C. Korbee has been practicing for 32 years.  He is admitted to practice before the State and Federal Courts serving Ohio and Kentucky as well as the United States Supreme Court.  He resides in Louisville, Kentucky and was recognized as an Ohio Super Lawyer in 2010.  He has served as labor counsel for a local government in the Greater Cincinnati area for 25 years. He has served as general counsel for a labor organization for the past 15 years. He served as co-counsel in the Whitworth vs. Nationwide class action.  Over his 3 decades of practice, he has litigated a broad spectrum of legal matters including:  race, age, and sex discrimination (defense);  civil service, section 1983 (defense);  premises liability (defense);  unfair labor practices (defense);  product liability (plaintiff);  personal injury (plaintiff);  and medical malpractice (plaintiff). He is a member of the Ohio and Kentucky Bar associations, AAJ (American Association of Justice), OAJ (Ohio Association of Justice), and KJA (Kentucky Justice Association).
 
Jill Gustafson is a lawyer with 20 years of medical litigation experience. She received her B.S.N. in nursing from Ohio State University in 1980.  She also has spent several years as a licensed nurse before returning to school to obtain her law degree from the University of Akron, School of Law.  As an attorney focusing on medical negligence cases, she has travelled the length and breadth of the United States deposing medical experts in nearly every specialty of medical science.  Her depositions number in the hundreds.  She also is a member of the Ohio and Kentucky Bar associations, AAJ (American Association of Justice), OAJ (Ohio Association of Justice), and KJA (Kentucky Justice Association).
 
Jennifer Lawrence graduated from Ohio State University in 1993 with a degree in Political Science. After which, she attended Salmon P. Chase College of Law.  Upon graduation in 1996, Ms. Lawrence joined her father, Richard Lawrence, in the practice of law.  Throughout her career, she has successfully represented individuals and their families in medical negligence claims against hospitals, physicians and other healthcare providers. She has successfully handled product liability cases against manufacturers for defective medical devices. She continues to represent individuals and their families against hospitals, physicians, nursing homes, product manufacturers, trucking corporations and their insurance companies.   Ms. Lawrence is active in the Ohio and Kentucky Bar Associations. She volunteers her time serving as a judge for Moot Court Competitions and continues to be involved at Salmon P. Chase College of Law as an adjunct professor. Ms. Lawrence has been an invited speaker at the Ohio Justice Association, the Kentucky Justice Association, the Kentucky Bar Association and the Northern Kentucky Bar Association. She has also served as a Board Member of the Birth Trauma Litigation Group of the American Association of Justice.  In addition to the Ohio and Kentucky Bar associations, she is a member of the AAJ (American Association of Justice), OAJ (Ohio Association of Justice), and KJA (Kentucky Justice Association).

Patrick J. Beirne is a life-long resident of Cincinnati.  He graduated from Miami University in 1993 and the Salmon P. Chase College of Law in 1996.  After briefly representing tortfeasors and their insurance carriers he made the decision to represent individuals and their families.  Mr. Beirne has successfully represented children, families and individuals devastated by medical negligence, defective medical equipment and dangerous medications.  He has successfully tried many cases involving medical malpractice and nursing negligence, most recently participating as co-counsel on trial teams that obtained a 30.9 million dollar verdict in Dayton, Ohio and a 26 million dollar verdict in Hamilton County, Ohio.  Mr. Beirne has lectured and taught at area schools.  He volunteers frequently for moot court competitions.  He speaks annually on medical-legal implications for a group of surgeons and has presented on various topics for several local hospitals.  He is a member of the Ohio and Kentucky Bar associations, AAJ (American Association of Justice), OAJ (Ohio Association of Justice), and KJA (Kentucky Justice Association).
 
Rob Lewis joined The Lawrence Firm in 2002 from the litigation department at Frost Brown Todd where he worked as an associate representing corporate clients, banks, small businesses and individuals in disputes involving commercial, zoning, construction and other matters.  Since then, he has focused his practice on representing those financially and physically devastated by injuries occurring at the hands of the fraudulent, negligent, and reckless.  He has settled and tried numerous cases including cases involving infectious and ischemic damage to the brain resulting in severe, permanent residual neurologic impairment or death; cases involving ischemic insult from bleeding due to improper and inadequate surgical ligation of a major artery; cases involving birth injuries due to labor mismanagement; cases involving neurologic injuries due to inadequate resuscitations; cases involving medical device defects; cases involving deaths from failure to maintain airways in PACU and/or ICU; cases involving surgical fires, scarring, nursing home abuse and neglect.  Upon his graduation from the University of Cincinnati, College of Law, Mr. Lewis had the honor of serving as a judicial clerk to the Honorable William O. Bertelsman, then Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Kentucky. At the University of Cincinnati, College of Law, Mr. Lewis served as Articles Editor and as an Associate on the Law Review.  He is a member of the Ohio and Kentucky Bar associations, AAJ (American Association of Justice), OAJ (Ohio Association of Justice), and KJA (Kentucky Justice Association).
 
Anne L. Gilday spent four years living in Charleston, South Carolina. After finishing college at the College of Charleston, she moved back to her hometown of Cincinnati where she decided to pursue her legal education at the Salmon P. Chase College of Law and to practice law.  She worked at The Lawrence Firm while attending law school. Upon graduation, she joined The Lawrence Firm as an attorney.  She represents individuals and their families against hospitals, physicians, nursing homes, and their insurance companies.  In her career, she has taken numerous depositions of defendants and experts and has assisted and participated in several trials.  She also has also successfully resolved numerous domestic cases involving divorce, dissolution and custody issues. She is a member of the Ohio and Kentucky Bar associations, AAJ (American Association of Justice), OAJ (Ohio Association of Justice), and KJA (Kentucky Justice Association).

Areas of Practice

• Personal Injury -- Plaintiff
• Medical Malpractice
• Products Liability Law
• Motor Vehicle Accidents -- Plaintiff
• Employment Law -- Employee
• Discrimination
• Nursing Home
• Railroad Worker Injury/FELA
• Toxic Torts
• Whistleblower/Qui Tam
• Sexual Harassment
• Health & Health Care Law

West Practice Categories

Sexual Harassment, Discrimination, Employment Law -- Employee, Employee Rights -- Employee, Employment Discrimination -- Employee, Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) -- Employee, Sexual Harassment -- Employee, Wage & Hour Laws -- Employee, Whistleblower -- Employee, Wrongful Termination -- Employee, Health & Health Care Law, Nursing Home, Personal Injury -- Plaintiff, Animal Bites -- Plaintiff, Aviation Accidents -- Plaintiff, Motor Vehicle Accidents -- Plaintiff, Premises Liability -- Plaintiff, Railroad Accidents -- Plaintiff, Slip and Fall -- Plaintiff, Wrongful Death -- Plaintiff, Products Liability Law, Chemicals & Cosmetics, Food & Agricultural Products, Machinery & Tools, Medical Products & Devices, Pharmaceutical Products, Recreational Products, Professional Malpractice Law, Medical Malpractice, Railroad Worker Injury/FELA, Toxic Torts, Whistleblower/Qui Tam