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Attorney Bios

  • Howard Janet PortraitHoward Janet has been representing plaintiffs in complex civil litigation for more than 30 years. His efforts on behalf of clients have repeatedly produced record-breaking verdicts and settlements and have led to a national reputation. He concentrates in three key areas: Medical Malpractice with emphasis on birth injuries; Pharmaceutical and Medical device product liability; and Environmental litigation. His cases have been featured on Dateline NBC and affiliates of ABC, NBC and CBS and in USA Today, the Washington Post, and Jet Magazine.
  • Robert K. Jenner brings to the My Advocates medical and legal team more than 26 years experience representing injured consumers nation-wide against the manufacturers of dangerous pharmaceutical drugs, defective medical devices and tainted blood products. Mr. Jenner leads the firm’s Mass Tort Division, and has assembled a team of attorneys, paralegals and health care professionals dedicated to prosecuting claims on behalf of injured consumers. Mr. Jenner has a national reputation as a tireless leader fighting against the world’s manufacturers of dangerous drugs, and has recovered tens of millions of dollars for his clients. He has been honored by his peers for inclusion in “The Best Lawyers in America” and “Maryland’s Super Lawyers”(named in Top 50).
  • Ken Suggs PortraitKenneth Suggs decided at a young age “to be a lawyer who would help the people I came from, the working class men and women of our country.” A tireless champion of consumers for more than 30 years, Mr. Suggs has achieved remarkable successes for his clients along the way to becoming one of the country’s leading trial lawyers. A former president of the American Association for Justice, Mr. Suggs is the 2006 recipient of the Advocate of the Year award and attained recognition as a Fellow of the National College of Advocacy, as well as by Super Lawyers ®. He considers his greatest achievements as those that made the biggest impact on the law. A veteran of the United States Navy, Mr. Suggs served two years in Vietnam.
  • Giles Manley PortraitGiles H. Manley M.D., J. D., F.A.C.O.G is an of counsel attorney with more than 20 years expe­ri­ence in the medical profes­sion. As a board-certified OB/GYN with well over 2,000 deliv­eries, he is extremely knowl­edge­able in all areas of obstet­rics, having served as both Chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Area Medical Director in Baltimore for the Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group (the physi­cian group of Kaiser Permanente). In addi­tion to his exten­sive obstet­rical expe­ri­ence, Dr. Manley performed numerous inva­sive gyne­co­logic proce­dures and has lectured to physi­cians nation­wide about these inno­v­a­tive tech­niques. Throughout his medical career, Dr. Manley has served on a number of commit­tees and is a fellow of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology as well as the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Dr. Manley has exten­sive medical-legal expe­ri­ence, and has served as an expert witness many times in both depo­si­tion and trial. He has done this both from a plain­tiff and defense perspec­tive. More recently, Dr. Manley demonstrated his expertise in a $1.852 Million dollar jury verdict at a Montgomery County, Maryland trial in a case involving the wrongful death of a newborn infant. Dr. Manley is a member of the Maryland Bar, and has qual­i­fied for member­ship into both the District of Columbia, and Minnesota Bars. He is also a member of the American Association for Justice, the Maryland Association for Justice, and the American Bar Association.
  • Stephen Offutt PortraitStephen Offutt has been a trial attorney since grad­u­ating Law School in 1988. Before joining Janet, Jenner & Suggs, Mr. Offutt had success­fully tried over 100 jury trials in 15–20 different venues throughout the Maryland and DC area involving claims of serious personal injury. Mr. Offutt is a member of the Maryland State Bar Association, the American Association for Justice (formerly the Association of Trial Lawyers of America), the District of Columbia Trial Lawyers Association and the Maryland Trial Lawyers Association. He is licensed to prac­tice in the Federal and State courts of Maryland, the District of Columbia, and Minnesota, as well as, the Supreme Court of the United States of America and has repre­sented clients in other juris­dic­tions that include Virginia, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Alabama, North Carolina and others. Mr. Offutt prac­tices in the medical malprac­tice divi­sion of Janet, Jenner & Suggs, working exclu­sively for the rights of victims of cata­strophic injuries in the areas of medical malprac­tice, medical prod­ucts liability and medical devices.
  • Dov Apfel PortraitDov Apfel is known nationally as a “child advocate”, who concentrates his practice in cerebral palsy, birth trauma litigation and obstetrical malpractice claims involving birth injuries and children with neurological and intellectual disabilities. Mr. Apfel is regularly contacted by families and lawyers throughout the United States to assist them with the evaluation of standard of care and causation issues that arise in cerebral palsy, birth trauma litigation and potential obstetrical malpractice claims. He is the recipient of the 2011 Dan Cullan Memorial Award conferred by the Executive Board of the Birth Trauma Litigation Group of the American Association for Justice in recognition of his lifetime achievements in birth injury litigation, education and advocacy.
  • Gerald Jowers PortraitGerald D. Jowers, Jr. focuses his prac­tice on the repre­sen­ta­tion of victims of dangerous and defec­tive phar­ma­ceu­tical prod­ucts and medical devices. He is admitted to prac­tice before all courts in the state of South Carolina, the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina (2002), and the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (2003). Since entering private prac­tice, Mr. Jowers has published in his areas of prac­tice and lectured to the Ohio Academy of Trial Lawyers. He is a member of the South Carolina Trial Lawyers Association (SCTLA), and the American Association for Justice (AAJ).
  • Sharon Guzejko PortraitSharon R. Guzejko is an asso­ciate with the firm who concen­trates her prac­tice on repre­senting persons injured by serious medical negli­gence, cancer misdi­ag­nosis and birth trauma resulting in cere­bral palsy. She brings expe­ri­ence repre­senting clients in a general trial prac­tice, including medical negli­gence cases, personal injury claims, and estate admin­is­tra­tion. Prior to her law career, Ms. Guzejko served 21 years in the United States Navy, and retired as a Chief Hospital Corpsman. Her exten­sive medical training in a variety of health care settings and unique mili­tary expe­ri­ence enhance her law prac­tice. She is admitted to prac­tice in the State Courts of Maryland and the United States District Court for the District of Maryland (Northern Division).
  • Hinson Brink PortraitFrancis “Brink” Hinson is an associate with the firm, focusing his practice in commercial litigation and catastrophic personal injury cases. He joined Janet, Jenner & Suggs in 2007 after serving as a law clerk for the Honorable Ralph King Anderson, Jr. on the South Carolina Court of Appeals. During law school, Mr. Hinson earned academic recognition on the Dean’s List and was the recipient of the University’s 2004 Karen Lee Award.
  • Hal Kleinman PortraitHal Kleinman Mr. Kleinman’s practice focuses on the areas of medical negligence, mass torts and class actions representing victims of dangerous and defective pharmaceutical products and medical devices, as well as victims of food poisoning.  He is admitted to practice before all courts in the states of Illinois and Pennsylvania, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, United States District Court for the District of Nebraska, United States Court of Federal Claims, Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and Third Circuit Court of Appeals.
  • Brian Ketterer PortraitBrian Ketterer is a trial attorney who focuses his prac­tice in phar­ma­ceu­tical drugs, prod­ucts liability and cata­strophic personal injury cases. Before joining Janet, Jenner & Suggs, Mr. Ketterer was the Managing Attorney of the Philadelphia office for a successful national plaintiff’s firm with a repu­ta­tion for aggres­sively trying cases. Recently, Mr. Ketterer was co-counsel in the Simon v. Wyeth hormone therapy case in the Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County and success­fully obtained a verdict of $1.5 million. Mr. Ketterer has also signif­i­cant expe­ri­ence in the fen-phen diet drug liti­ga­tion, mesothe­lioma asbestos cases and Paxil birth defect liti­ga­tion. Prior to becoming a civil attorney, Mr. Ketterer was an Assistant District Attorney in Philadelphia where he pros­e­cuted hundreds of trials and tried several jury trials to verdict resulting in numerous convic­tions on serious felony counts. He is admitted before the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and the Eastern/Western Districts of Pennsylvania.  He is currently focused on both the Hormone Replacement Therapy liti­ga­tion and the Pain Pump litigation, both of which are occurring nationally.
  • Elisha Hawk PortraitElisha Hawk is an associate with the firm who focuses her practice on complex products liability and mass tort litigation. Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Hawk was an associate for a litigation firm in Towson, Maryland, where she also focused her practice on complex products liability. Ms. Hawk graduated from the University of Maryland School of Law in 2008 with a Certificate in Health Law. During law school, she interned with the Honorable Kathleen Gallogly Cox of the Circuit Court for Baltimore County, worked as a summer associate for Whitney & Bogris, LLP and completed the Appellate Advocacy Clinic in which she briefed and argued an appeal before the Maryland Court of Special Appeals as a Rule 16 Attorney.
  • Tara J. Posner is an associate with the firm who concentrates her practice on representing children injured by mismanaged labor and delivery, and persons who are victims of avoidable surgical errors. Tara has helped to obtain substantial verdicts and settlements for the firm’s clients through her hard work and personal commitment to each of the clients she represents. She graduated from the University of Maryland School of Law in 2007. While in law school, she interned for the Honorable Ruth Jakubowski of The Circuit Court of Baltimore County and also worked as a judicial extern to the Honorable James S. Otero of the United States District Court for the Central District of California.
  • Justin A. Browne is an associate focusing his practice on complex product liability cases and mass tort litigation in state and federal courts nationwide. He joined the firm after managing a solo practice and working for litigation firms in Baltimore. He previously interned with the Honorable Richard D. Bennett of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. He also worked for a non-profit organization while a law student. Prior to law school, Mr. Browne worked in the pharmaceutical and medical device industry.
  • Joyce Elizabeth Jones is an associate with the firm, concentrating her practice on representing persons injured by serious medical negligence, cancer misdiagnosis, and birth trauma resulting in cerebral palsy. Ms. Jones joined the firm first as a law clerk while attending law school and has since returned to the firm as an associate attorney.
  • Ace McBride is a trial attorney whose practice focuses on representing patients and families that have been injured due to medical negligence. Before joining the firm, Mr. McBride spent approximately five years defending health care providers in medical malpractice lawsuits. He is admitted to practice in Maryland, the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, and the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
  • MeederJessica H. Meeder is an associate who focuses her practice on complex product liability cases and mass tort litigation in state and federal courts nationwide. Prior to joining the firm, she worked for several large defense firms in the Baltimore area. She has spent several years practicing environmental regulatory law and litigation, pharmaceutical and products liability defense law, and general liability defense litigation in Baltimore.
  • Leah K. Barron is an associate focusing her practice on environmental and toxic tort litigation. Prior to joining the firm, she worked at a Baltimore-based plaintiff’s firm, worked in the field of public health and environmental policy for a national non-profit organization, and taught high school Government.
  • Lindsey M. Craig is an associate with the firm concentrating her practice on complex product liability cases and mass tort litigation, in state and federal courts nationwide. Ms. Craig joined the firm after graduating from law school in 2010.  She interned for Baltimore County Circuit Court Judge, John Fader, II as well as obtained a 40 hour mediation certificate.high school Government.
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  • John C. Hensley, Jr. has been privileged to represent individuals and families dealing with the devastating consequences of medical negligence, dangerous products, automobile and trucking crashes and workplace accidents. Prior to joining Janet, Jenner & Suggs, Mr. Hensley was Managing Partner of a successful North Carolina based trial firm with an established reputation for aggressive and effective legal representation. Mr. Hensley has tried many jury trials involving serious injuries and damages in the State and Federal courts of North Carolina and has represented clients throughout the mid-Atlantic region.
  • Steve GermanSteve German is a founding partner of the law firm of German Rubenstein LLP. Mr. German serves as Of Counsel with Janet, Jenner & Suggs in complex litigation concentrating in the areas of environmental and toxic tort. He has served leadership roles in federal and state actions, including nationwide, class action and multi-district litigation. Mr. German has also been active in the cleanup of contaminated property and has litigated numerous matters involving claims under state and federal environmental protection statutes and private-party cost recovery statutes, including the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, RCRA, CERCLA, NEPA, New York Navigation Law, and the New Jersey Spill Act.
  • Joel M. Rubenstein is a founding partner of the law firm of German Rubenstein LLP. Mr. Rubenstein serves as Of Counsel with Janet, Jenner & Suggs in complex litigation concentrating in the areas of environmental and toxic tort. With Janet, Jenner & Suggs, Mr. Rubenstein’s most recent toxic hazard case involves the representation of plaintiffs in Spears et al. v. Chrysler et al., an environmental class action concerning a plume of contaminated groundwater that has caused vapor intrusion to hundreds of properties in Dayton, Ohio. Mr. Rubenstein also represents plaintiffs in Sher, et al. v. Raytheon Company, et al., an environmental class action lawsuit seeking damages on behalf of property owners and individuals who have been exposed to contaminants such as trichloroethylene, vinyl chloride and 1,4-dioxane through groundwater contamination from a Raytheon plant in St. Petersburg, Florida.