Kathleen M. Rhoads

Kathy Rhoads handles matters throughout Northern California and is the Co-Managing Partner of the firm's Sacramento office, as well as a resident partner in the firm’s Bay Area and Fresno offices.

She has more than 30 years experience handling professional liability litigation including representing healthcare providers, real estate brokers and agents, lawyers, insurance agents and brokers, engineers and architects and accountants in malpractice, elder abuse, errors & omissions, regulatory and licensing matters.

In addition, she has represented product manufacturers including medical devices in strict product liability claims. She also has extensive experience representing a wide range of property owners, managers, and business operators in premises liability matters and in complex personal injury cases. Her diverse practice encompasses all aspects of civil litigation and administrative hearings. 

Admissions

• California
• U.S. District Courts, California

Memberships

• American Health Lawyers Association
• Sacramento County Bar Association
• Women Lawyers of Sacramento
• California Association of Health Facilities
• Aging Services of California
• Defense Research Institute
• Association of Defense Counsel

Representative Experience

Examples of Kathy’s experience include the following:

Healthcare

• Defense of healthcare providers in medical malpractice, elder abuse, wrongful death, unfair business practices, HIPAA violation and fraud claims.
• Defense and counseling of directors and officers relating to peer review and credentialing, as well as facility defense for liability claims including negligence, constitutional violations and EMTALA.  
• Consultation and representation of health care providers regarding federal and state regulatory compliance, medical staff issues, medical negligence, licensing, certification and citation appeals in civil and administrative forums.
• Successfully defended nursing home administrator in administrative license revocation action.
• Negotiated resolution of breach of unauthorized release of protected health information for medical clinic.
• Represented numerous long term care facilities, residential care facilities for the elderly, group homes and physicians in elder abuse and medical malpractice matters.

• Resolution of disputes and litigation involving commercial, industrial and retail properties including lease defaults, nondisclosure claims, boundary disputes, easements, purchase and sale agreements, and other real estate related controversies.

Professional Liability Defense

• Defending errors and omissions cases involving professionals including architects and engineers in their individual capacities as well as representing design professional firms and joint ventures in commercial and residential projects.
• Representing attorneys, accountants and health care providers in claims involving their professional practices.

Tort & Product Liability

• Representing a wide range of property owners, managers, and business operators in premises liability matters.
• Representing manufacturers of construction equipment, medical devices and household products in complex personal injury cases.

Construction/Environmental/Toxic Tort

• Representing building owners, developers and manufacturers in litigation of property damage, personal injury and product liability claims involving chemical exposure, air quality and contamination claims.

Commercial/D&O Litigation

• Handling a variety of corporate disputes including shareholder litigation and commercial litigation claims.

Education

J.D., University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law

B.S., Microbiology, California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo