When she worked as a head nurse, the goal of Catherine A. “Kit” Rothenberger was to improve health care for patients, especially children and newborns. When she decided to go to law school, and subsequently became a plaintiff’s lawyer, Kit’s goal remained the same.

“I’m continuing to work for patients,” she says, only now they’re plaintiffs, and “I represent them and help them work their way through the legal system.”

Kit, born and raised in the Philadelphia area, graduated cum laude from Villanova University College of Nursing in 1981. Her academic rank and commitment to the profession earned her induction into Sigma Theta Tau, the International Honor Society of Nursing.

Kit began her nursing career at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, then became nurse manager of the Regional Neonatal Center at Jersey Shore Medical Center. She subsequently was Nurse Manager for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Pediatrics and Newborn Nursery for Bryn Mawr Hospital. Her clinical area of expertise focused on the care of critically ill newborns and children. She earned her Master’s Degree in Nursing Administration from Villanova and worked for eighteen years as a clinical nurse as well as in nursing administration, where she was known for her steady commitment to patient advocacy.

Kit graduated from the Villanova School of Law in 2002 and joined a medical malpractice defense firm in Philadelphia, where she participated in the preparation and litigation of catastrophic injury cases. But then she joined The Beasley Firm, and switched to representing plaintiffs. Her practice focuses on medical malpractice, nursing malpractice and complex litigation.

When you’re a defense lawyer, “You work for malpractice insurance companies,” Kit says. “It is much more satisfying to work for plaintiffs as people.”

Kit maintains her affiliation with the nursing profession and lectures to nursing groups and other health care personnel about current issues in medical malpractice.