Beth W. Kanik
Biography
Beth W. Kanik is a Partner in our Atlanta office with a robust practice in professional negligence and medical malpractice.
A seasoned trial attorney, Beth has defended physicians, general contractors, and hospitals in New York and Georgia on issues of standard of care, proximate causation in a medical context, and the acceptance doctrine in the construction and professional liability context. She is the daughter of a physician and has many relatives who are physicians, which gives her a deep understanding of the challenges of the profession and the stress that a lawsuit can bring.
Beth is a talented writer and teacher, and she brings those skills to bear with the state and superior courts in Georgia, the U.S. District Court, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit as well as other circuits with special admissions.
She is a staunch client advocate at trial and in administrative proceedings before the Medical Board of Georgia and the other disciplinary boards regulated by the Georgia Secretary of State. She is AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell.
Beth earned a Juris Doctor from the University of San Francisco, where she was the Note and Comment Editor for the Law Review. She completed a Bachelor of Science in Newspaper Journalism, magna cum laude, from Syracuse University.
A transplant from the Northeast, Beth has since embraced Atlanta and the Southeast as her home and is an ardent and occasionally suffering season ticket holder of the Atlanta Braves, devotee of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, collector of bobbleheads of all types, and explorer of bookstores. She is also owned by two rescue dogs.
Experience
Beth has successfully argued cases at the federal and state levels, including before the U.S. Supreme Court, and she was specially admitted to U.S. District Court in Pennsylvania and Third Circuit Court of Appeals, where summary judgment was affirmed on appeal. She has also tried cases in Illinois and has made numerous appearances before the Medical Board of Georgia.
Beth has defended physicians, general contractors, and hospitals in New York and in Georgia on issues of standard of care, proximate causation (medical context), and the acceptance doctrine in the construction and professional liability context. She is the daughter of a physician and has other family members who are physicians, so she is sympathetic to the stress that a lawsuit can bring.
Credentials
Admitted
State Courts:
- California
- Georgia, 1990
- Court of Appeals, 2002; Supreme Court, 1999
- New York
U.S. District Courts:
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, 1991
- U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, 1991
U.S. Courts of Appeals:
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
U.S. Supreme Court, 1999
Education
- J.D., University of San Francisco, 1986
- B.S., magna cum laude, Syracuse University, 1982
Memberships
- American Bar Association
- DRI
- Leadership DeKalb
- New York State Bar Association
Recognition
- AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rated™, Martindale-Hubbell