Helen Lawless

Helen A. Lawless is a partner at Kline & Specter who handles a wide range of cases including rideshare, sexual abuse, medical malpractice, civil rights, products liability and catastrophic injury matters. She has secured numerous multi-million dollar recoveries for clients. In May 2026, Lawless and David Inscho obtained a verdict exceeding $5 million from a Bucks County jury for a 78-year-old woman whose gastroenterologist's misdiagnosis of diverticulitis led to amputation of her left hand, right thumb and left big toe. In January 2026, Lawless, Benjamin Present and Mark Fuchs won a $7.8 million verdict in Luzerne County for the estate of a college student who died following a hazing drinking incident. She helped secure a $4.5 million verdict in April 2025 in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court against a medical consulting service for an injured worker whose foot was amputated after a helpline deterred him from seeking medical care. In 2023, Lawless was co-counsel in litigation that produced a $9 million settlement with a rideshare company and Days Inn hotel on claims they enabled a man to rape an 11-year-old girl. Following the incident, the rideshare company adopted stricter rules preventing drivers from transporting unaccompanied minors. Prior to joining Kline & Specter, Lawless served as an Assistant District Attorney in the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office, working in the Municipal Court Unit, Appeals Unit, and Major Trials Unit, handling all phases of cases from discovery through plea negotiations to felony criminal trials. During law school, Lawless worked at plaintiffs and defense law firms in Alexandria, Virginia and New York City, and interned at the Campaign Legal Center in Washington, D.C. Before law school, she managed the press department at a strategic litigation nonprofit. Lawless has been named to Best Lawyers 2024 "Ones to Watch" and was selected as a Pennsylvania Rising Star by Super Lawyers for three consecutive years (2024-2026), recognizing the top 2.5 percent of attorneys in the state who are 40 or younger or practicing 10 years or less. She has served as a guest trial advocacy instructor at Stanford Law School. At Stanford Law School, Lawless served as senior editor and Articles Committee member for the Stanford Law Review, board member and top oral advocate in the Kirkwood Supreme Court Moot Court competition, and champion debater. She received the designation of Best Speaker at the National U.S. Debating Championships America's Cup. A research paper she authored was used as a school-wide exemplar for incoming students. The Stanford Center on Philanthropy & Civil Society published her paper titled "Social Media Echo Chambers & Democratic Discourse." She was also a research assistant on voting rights issues, worked on college-wide free speech policy matters, and served on the Board of Stanford's Public Interest Law Society. As an undergraduate at University College Dublin, Lawless achieved a 3.86 GPA, finished first in both her majors (politics and economics), and had the top-ranked final thesis in her major. She was elected to student government twice—first in her initial year over six opponents, and subsequently without opposition. She competed in international debate competitions and was named a Top 20 speaker at the European Debate Championships. She won championship titles and reached finals in multiple intervarsity competitions at Oxford University, Cambridge University, and Trinity College Dublin. She received the Gold Presidential Medal for being the best speaker in her debate society. Lawless concentrates her practice on catastrophic personal injury.