By Beth E. Yanofsky - Staff Writer

Wynnewood - Carol Nelson Shepherd of McClenaghan Mill Road said she hopes she's the kind of lawyer "you never need."

She defends consumers in medical malpractice and defective medical device cases.

"Everyone makes jokes and everyone says they hate lawyers - until you need them," she said.

She also is the new president of the Pa. Trial Lawyers Association (PaTLA), elected in July. She is only the second woman president in the association's 29-year history. She is a partner in the Philadelphia law firm of Feldman Shepherd & Wohlgelernter.

Nelson Shepherd said she represents clients who "have been harmed by medical negligence, cost cutting by the insurance industry and lax safety standards for product manufacturers."

She represented a client who lost her right leg because doctors failed to diagnose a circulation problems after a routine operation.

She also represented the parent of a "beautiful little redheaded baby" who was born prematurely and became brain injured and blind.

The new born was released from the hospital within three days of birth and later developed neonatal jaundice, in which the blood component kills the brain if untreated.

"The newborn never was diagnosed until it was too late," she said. "So now the redheaded four-year-old never can function above the level of a one to four month old infant."

The firm recently won a class action on behalf of 570 patients who were treated by an unlicensed Northeast Philadelphia psychiatrist.

Right now, she's working on a case involving a woman who was incorrectly diagnosed with breast cancer, had a mastectomy, and began taking the drug tamoxifin as follow-up treatment.

Nelson Shepherd alleges that after the woman began taking the drug, she developed endometrial cancer and was forced to have her ovaries and uterus removed.

The PaTLA strives "to represent our clients and other potential litigants and to lobby for proposed legislation if it benefits consumer, and against it if it doesn't," she said.

She said a primary goal of her term will be to help the organization's 4,000 members dispel the misconception that courts favor big business over injured consumers.

She said courts often rule in favor of injured consumers, despite assurances from companies that their products or services are safe.

"I guess, on the plaintiff's side, we all feel a responsibility to our clients to win the case because it's bound to be something that significantly alters their life," she said.

"But trials are tough that way because, even if you worked every hour of the day, it still wouldn't be enough time. In the end, you leave the case up to the jury of 12 and most times they do the right thing.

"The public's perception of tort litigants and the good and honorable work of trial lawyers is being sullied by those who would deprive victims of essential legal rights," she said.

"We have to begin letting the public know about real life stories," she said.