The Great Trials Podcast

GTP CLASSIC: Shanin Specter │Michael Goretzka v. West Penn Power Company │ $109 million verdict


Listen Later

This week we’re replaying a classic episode where your hosts Steve Lowry and Yvonne Godfrey interview Shanin Specter of www.klinespecter.com

 

Remember to rate and review GTP in iTunes: Click Here To Rate and Review

 

Episode Details:

Inner Circle of Advocates member Shanin Specter of Kline & Specter, PC shares how he obtained the largest contested liability personal injury verdict in Pennsylvania history after 39-year-old Carrie Goretzka was fatally electrocuted by a 7200 volt power line. West Penn Power linemen failed to properly clean the wires with a wire brush before installing them, per the manufacturer’s instructions, resulting in the line overheating and falling to the ground as a live wire in her yard. 

The result of this premises liability case led to the re-training of Pennsylvania linemen, infra-red inspections of power lines and the creation of an Electric Safety Division by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission to investigate reported electrical injuries. An Allegheny County jury returned a $109 million verdict, including $48 million in compensatory damages and $61 million in punitive damages.

 

Click Here to Read/Download Trial Documents

 

Guest Bio:

Shanin Specter

Shanin Specter is a preeminent American trial lawyer. He is a founding partner of Kline & Specter, one of the leading catastrophic injury firms in the United States.

Specter has obtained more than 200 verdicts and settlements in excess of $1 million, including jury verdicts of $153 million against a major automaker and $109 million against a Pennsylvania power company. In all, he has achieved 16 eight- or nine-figure verdicts, among them news-making cases involving medical malpractice, defective products, medical devices, premises liability, auto accidents, and general negligence.

He is a member of the Inner Circle of Advocates, whose membership is limited to the top 100 plaintiffs’ trial attorneys in the United States.

Beyond winning substantial monetary compensation for his clients, many of Specter's cases have prompted changes that provide a societal benefit, including improvements to vehicle safety, nursing and hospital procedures, the safe operation of police cars, training for the use of CPR at public institutions, and inspections, installation and maintenance of utility power lines. One case spurred the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission to create a new Electric Safety Division to investigate reported electrical injuries. Most recently, Specter’s lawsuit on behalf of the victims of a fire escape collapse helped move the City of Philadelphia in 2016 to enact an ordinance requiring all fire escapes to be regularly inspected.

Specter earned his undergraduate degree with honors from Haverford College, his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania and an LL.M. with First Honors from Cambridge University.

Read Full Bio

 

Show Sponsors:

Legal Technology Services - LegalTechService.com

Digital Law Marketing - DigitalLawMarketing.com

Harris Lowry Manton LLP - hlmlawfirm.com

 

Free Resources:

Stages Of A Jury Trial - Part 1

Stages Of A Jury Trial - Part 2

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

The Great Trials PodcastBy The Great Trials Podcast

  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7

4.7

129 ratings


More shows like The Great Trials Podcast

View all
The Joe Rogan Experience by Joe Rogan

The Joe Rogan Experience

222,714 Listeners

The Daily by The New York Times

The Daily

111,723 Listeners

Business Wars by Wondery

Business Wars

12,774 Listeners

Dateline NBC by NBC News

Dateline NBC

47,879 Listeners

Advisory Opinions by The Dispatch

Advisory Opinions

3,729 Listeners

Hylights by Houston Young Lawyers Association

Hylights

8 Listeners

New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce by Wondery

New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce

17,140 Listeners

The 7 by The Washington Post

The 7

1,139 Listeners

The Tucker Carlson Show by Tucker Carlson Network

The Tucker Carlson Show

14,284 Listeners