Eight Sandberg Phoenix attorneys selected as 'Top Rated Lawyers'

Selected by American Lawyer Media based on Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings, eight Sandberg Phoenix attorneys have been named "Top Rated Lawyers" in Healthcare Law for 2013 and will be featured in the November issue of The American Lawyer & Corporate Counsel magazine.

Each attorney was selected for their AV Preeminent peer review rating, the highest rating in legal ability and ethical standards, by Martindale-Hubbell™. Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Ratings™ reflect our attorneys’ deep knowledge of the Healthcare industry and their commitment to upholding the highest ethical standards.

The Sandberg Phoenix attorneys selected as 2013 Top Rated Lawyers in Healthcare Law are:

Kenneth W. Bean
A shareholder and founding member of Sandberg Phoenix & von Gontard, Ken focuses his practice on defense work in civil litigation and healthcare litigation. He has experience in the defense of high-risk medical malpractice litigation and medical products liability. He has tried to conclusion ten OB medical malpractice actions involving brain injured children and won seven of them. He has tried five psychiatric suicide cases and won four of them. Over the last ten years, he has tried to completion over fifty cases.

Mary Anne Mellow
Shareholder Mary Anne Mellow is concentrates her practice in civil litigation involving products liability, medical malpractice and insurance defense. She has experience handling the defense of sophisticated medical malpractice cases and medical device litigation since 1982. Her cases include a wide variety of surgical/medical procedures including obstetrics/gynecology, thoracic surgery, radiology and emergency room care. She regularly consulted on risk management matters with Southern Illinois Healthcare which operates four hospitals in southern Illinois and has actively defended those hospitals in malpractice litigation for over 20 years.

G. Keith Phoenix
A founding member of Sandberg Phoenix & von Gontard, Keith Phoenix has been instrumental in management of the firm, assisting in its growth, and in client development. He has experience in well over 2,000 pieces of major litigation and has tried to completion scores of high exposure cases, generally representing large multi-national corporations. The cases defended by Keith are not only in Missouri and Illinois where the firm has offices, but also across the country to include Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, New Jersey, Oklahoma, and Texas.

Kathleen L. Pine
Serving as an attorney with Sandberg Phoenix & von Gontard since 1984 and being a shareholder since 1989, Kathy Pine has almost thirty years of experience representing hospitals and physicians in medical malpractice cases in Illinois and Missouri. In 2003, Kathy opened Sandberg Phoenix’s first branch office in Carbondale, Illinois to serve central and southern Illinois law by offering legal advice and defense to businesses, hospitals and physicians.

Jonathan Ries
Senior shareholder and a founding member of Sandberg Phoenix & von Gontard Jonathan Ries has successfully litigated hundreds of cases in the federal and state courts of Missouri and Illinois. He has tried more than 30 major civil jury trials in a wide range of substantive areas including malpractice, products liability, contracts, business torts, franchise law and distributor disputes. Jonathan’s current practice is concentrated in the defense of health care malpractice, product liability, and personal injury litigation, particularly in the defense of catastrophic injury cases.

Rodney M. Sharp
Rodney Sharp is a shareholder of Sandberg Phoenix & von Gontard who focuses his practice on the defense of physicians, hospitals and other health care providers. He has also tried premises liability, products liability and commercial cases. From 2000 to 2004, Rodney served as the head of the firm’s Health Law Practice Group.

Stephen M. Strum
A shareholder of Sandberg Phoenix & von Gontard, Stephen Strum focuses his practice primarily in the defense of product manufacturers and nursing homes. He has experience representing a number of nationally recognized and local nursing home operators in claims involving patient care litigation, risk management, and allegations of fraud. Steve has directly handled, evaluated, or managed over 500 nursing home cases in over fifteen states, and has acted as regional and national trial counsel for several nursing home operators. He also has an extensive background in product liability litigation matters.

Peter von Gontard
Senior Counsel and a founding member of Sandberg Phoenix & von Gontard, Peter von Gontard concentrates his practice primarily in the areas of high exposure product liability and medical malpractice suits, and has successfully tried numerous jury trials. Peter has been recognized as one of the best trial attorneys in the country by Best Lawyers in America since 2006 in practice areas such as Product Liability Litigation, Health Care Law, Medical Malpractice Law, and Personal Injury Litigation.