About Sara Thomson

Sara Thomson is an attorney at Kline & Specter who focuses on medical malpractice and product liability litigation.

Thomson has worked, along with Michael Trunk, on some of the firm's major cases, including vaginal mesh cases that resulted in jury verdicts of $13.5 million and, most recently, $80 million against Johnson & Johnson.

Her prior background was as a litigation associate for 24 years with two Philadelphia-area law firms, McKissock & Hoffman and Post & Post, that concentrated on the legal defense of medical malpractice lawsuits. Thomson did research and writing for trial and appellate courts, evaluated written discovery responses, analyzed medical records, worked on case development and also handled arbitrations and assisted at trial.

Thomson was an excellent student, earning her bachelor's degree from Hofstra University, where she was on the Dean's List four straight years, and her law degree from Villanova University School of Law, where she earned 3.3 GPA and graduated in the top fifth of her class.

Thomson is also talented on the clarinet, having been named the best clarinet player in New York state while she was in middle school and continuing on the instrument through high school. Her father, Robert McGinnis, was the principal clarinetist with the Philadelphia Orchestra under the direction of Leopold Stokowski and later for the New York Philharmonic.

In her earlier years, Thomson also worked as a groom for polo ponies, including for the family of the late H. Allen Jerkens, a racehorse trainer who had horses, Onion and Prove Out, that beat the great Secretariat after his Triple Crown victory.

Proven verdicts and settlements at Kline & Specter, PC

These results are credited to Kline & Specter, PC. A result appears under an attorney's own name only when a published source names them as counsel on the case.

A Philadelphia jury found that Monsanto failed to warn that Roundup could cause cancer and awarded John McKivison $2.25 billion. The trial judge later reduced the award to $400 million.

Philadelphia County, PA · 2024Product LiabilityRead the full story →

After Amtrak Train 188 derailed in Philadelphia in May 2015, killing eight and injuring more than 200, Kline & Specter's Thomas R. Kline led the plaintiffs' negotiations that produced a $265 million settlement fund for the victims.

Philadelphia, PA (federal) · 2016Wrongful DeathRead the full story →

A Philadelphia jury found the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania liable for the brain injury a newborn suffered when staff delayed a cesarean section, a $182.7 million verdict that grew to a molded judgment of about $207.6 million, the largest medical malpractice award in Pennsylvania history. Kline & Specter argued and won the appeal, where the Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed the full $207.6 million judgment in July 2025.

Philadelphia County, PA · 2025Medical MalpracticeRead the full story →

A Philadelphia jury awarded Ernest Caranci $175 million after finding that decades of Roundup use caused his non-Hodgkin lymphoma and that Monsanto failed to warn of the risk. Kline & Specter tried the case, the first Roundup trial in Philadelphia, and the verdict was later upheld on appeal.

Philadelphia County, PA · 2023Product LiabilityRead the full story →
$153 millionVerdict

A federal jury in Nevada found Ford's pickup parking brake defective and held that the company should have warned owners, returning a verdict near $153 million after three-year-old Walter White was killed by a truck that rolled in the family driveway. Shanin Specter of Kline & Specter tried the case.

Reno, NV · 1998Product LiabilityRead the full story →

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is unique and depends on its own facts.

Practice areas

Education

Villanova University School of Law
Juris Doctor
Hofstra University
Undergraduate

Other attorneys at Kline & Specter, PC

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Proven verdicts and settlements from other Philadelphia firms

Saltz Mongeluzzi & Bendesky
Saltz Mongeluzzi & Bendesky
$1.02 billion · Champlain Towers Collapse: $1.021 Billion for 98 Victims in Under a Year
Feldman Shepherd Wohlgelernter Tanner Weinstock Dodig
Feldman Shepherd Wohlgelernter Tanner Weinstock Dodig
$160 million · U-Haul Pays $160 Million After Overfilled Propane Tank Kills Food Truck Owner and Her Daughter
Ross Feller Casey
Ross Feller Casey
$85 Million Verdict for Penn Med Student Who Fell 18 Feet Into Open Center City Manhole
Anapol Weiss
Anapol Weiss
$1.6 billion · 104 Women Win $1.6 Billion Against Long Island Pediatrician Stuart Copperman
The Beasley Firm, LLC
The Beasley Firm, LLC
$907 million · Maddux Family Wins $907 Million Wrongful Death Judgment Against Fugitive Ira Einhorn

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is unique and depends on its own facts.