Attorneys

Attorney Kathie Knouff

Kathie is a seasoned litigator with years of litigation experience passionately representing clients in the fields of medical malpractice, wrongful death, nursing home neglect, automobile, motorcycle and truck accidents, construction site accidents, amusement park accidents, product liability, slip and falls and vicious dog attacks. 

Kathie is empathetic, compassionate, and genuine.  She will fight for what is right. She will be your zealous advocate, counselor, and problem solver. She makes it a point to treat all her clients as if they are her only client. 

Prior to joining The Henry Law Firm, she worked for nationally recognized defense firms. Kathie spent nearly fourteen years of her career working as defense counsel for top insurance companies, defending their insureds in personal injury and death claims. She is uniquely qualified and understands how the insurance companies investigate, evaluate, and resolve claims for their insureds.  While defending these cases, she saw the raw emotions of the injured parties and grieving families and her heart always went out to them.  After facing her own tragic loss, she knew she needed to be an advocate for the injured parties, not defend the big businesses and insurance companies. Now she fights for and helps the injured and their families.

Kathie graduated from Cleveland State University with double majors in psychology and sociology, summa cum laude, then went on to obtain her law degree at Cleveland Marshall College of Law, graduating with cum laude honors. Kathie was a member of the moot court team and an editor on the Journal of Law and Health.  Kathie has been recognized by Super Lawyers as a Super Lawyer Rising Star from 2014-2019. Kathie also proudly served our country and is a veteran of the United States Air Force.

In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, watching her daughters play sports (lots of University of Cincinnati pole vaulting and High School Basketball), and cuddling with her two labradoodles, Myles Andrew and Piper.  

Attorney Megan Shore

Attorney Megan Shore is a nationally recognized Plaintiff's attorney who litigates cases across the country involving nursing home abuse and neglect, assisted living abuse and neglect, community integrated living arrangement (CILA) abuse and neglect, sexual assault, medical malpractice, birth injury. 

Megan is the National Academy of Personal Injury Attorneys Top 10, Super Lawyer's Illinois Rising Star, The National Trial Lawyer’s Top 40 Under 40 Lawyers, The National Trial Lawyer’s Top 100 Trial Lawyers, and The National Trial Lawyer’s Top 10 Nursing Home Lawyers. Throughout her career her cases have been highly publicized in the media, including CBS, ABC local news, NBC 5 Chicago Nightly News, AARP, Law360, The Chicago Tribune, and The Daley Herald. 

She serves on the executive committee of the American Association for Justice Nursing Home Litigation Group. Megan has also served as a consultant to AARP (American Association of Retired Persons), the Department of Justice, the Attorney General, and Court appointed special monitors as a consultant, which included reviewing and auditing electronic medical records for false and late charting. Megan won the first federal motion to remand within the 7th Circuit determining that nursing homes are not immune from liability pursuant to the PREP Act and federal officer immunity during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Megan has also worked on birth injury cases across the nation in state and federal court for cases resulting in multi-million dollar settlements and jury verdicts including the largest obstetrical malpractice verdict in United States history at the time - $143 million.

She is licensed to practice in both Illinois and Ohio and joined The Henry Law Firm of counsel in 2023.  

Awards

Super Lawyer's 2021-2023 Rising Star
The National Trial Lawyer’s 2021 Top 40 Under 40 2022-2023
The National Trial Lawyer’s Top 10 Nursing Home Lawyers 2021-2023
National Academy of Personal Injury Attorneys Top 10 2023 
The National Trial Lawyer's Top 100 Lawyers 2022-2023

Associations and Committees:

Ohio Association for Justice
Illinois State Bar Association
Illinois State Bar Association's Mentorship Program (Mentor)
Illinois Trial Lawyers Association
National Academy of Personal Injury Attorneys
Chicago Bar Association
Women's Bar Association of Illinois
Co-Chair of the following Committees:​
Small Firms
Annual Dinner ​
Top Women in Leadership Reception
The American Association for Justice:
The Birth Trauma Litigation Group​
Women's Trial Lawyers Caucus
The Nursing Home Litigation Group - Executive Committee Member
The Medical Malpractice Litigation Group
The Medical Record Retrieval CIOX Litigation Group
The New Lawyers Division
The National Trial Lawyers
Top 100 Lawyers​
Top 10 Nursing Home Lawyers
Top 40 Under 40 Trial Lawyers

​Presentations and Publications

American Association for Justice Elder Abuse College: Strategies for Record Breaking Results, 2023, Chicago, IL
Exposing Nursing Homes, Trial magazine, June 2022
Be Audit You Can Be: How to Better Prepare Your Lawyer, 2022 LNC Success Conference
Increasing the Value of Nursing Home Cases, Maryland Association for Justice, Nursing Home Litigation Group, January 2022
Understanding Audit Data in Medical Malpractice and Nursing Home Cases, Ohio Association for Justice Annual Convention 2022
Understanding the Nursing Home Industry’s Leading Electronic Medical Record and Audit Data,  American Association for Justice's Nursing Home Litigation Group's Webinar Series, Spring 2022
Understanding Electronic Medical Records and Audit Trails - 2 Part Series, American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants Conference, West Virginia, 2022
Ethical Trial Practice in the Digital Age, Northwest Suburban Bar Association, December 1, 2021
Nothing Good Happens After 3 Hours: Recent Literature Questions ACOG's Guidance on the 2nd Stage of Labor, AAJ Birth Trauma Litigation Group Journal, July 2021
A New Nursing Home Playbook: Discovery What the Long-Term Care Industry Hides in Its Electronic Medical, Financial, and Staffing Information, The American Association for Justice, Nursing Home Litigation Group, Spring 2021 Seminar
Understanding Electronic Medical Records, The American Association for Justice, Spring 2020 Seminar
Understanding the Leading Nursing Home EMR System, The Illinois Trial Lawyers Association Journal, Winter 2020 Issue
Combating Defense Obstruction in Medical Malpractice Cases, The Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, December 2019 Seminar

Megan Shore-Toca In The News

9th Circ. Ruling Won't End Nursing Home Virus Venue Fight - Law 360
Super Lawyers' Rising Star in Plaintiff's Medical Malpractice - Super Lawyers Magazine
Top 40 Under 40 Spotlight, Winter 2021 Issue - The Trial Lawyer Magazine
Member Spotlight, January 2022 - Illinois Women's Bar Association
Nursing Home Unlikely to Sway 9th Circ. In Virus Venue Fight - Law 360
2 Women Say They Were Sexually Assaulted By Same Masseur At Old Town Massage Envy - CBS News Chicago
2 Women Say Old Town Massage Envy Employee Sexually Assaulted Them - NBC 5 Chicago
Nursing Home Unlikely to Sway 9th Circ. In Virus Venue Fight - Law 360
2nd Symphony Of Joliet Wrongful Death Lawsuit, - Yahoo News!
Lawsuit Claims 'Gross Negligence' in COVID Death at Bloomington Nursing Home - WTLG Radio
COVID Executive Order Limits Malpractice Lawsuits - WGLT Radio
Lawsuit Accuses Bloomington facility of 'gross negligence' in COVID-19 death - Week 25 News
Lawsuit Against Bloomington Long Term Care Facility Alleges Gross Negligence in COVID Outbreak Death
- ABC News
Nursing Homes Struggle to Keep COVID Out as Deaths Rise - WGLT News
Bloomington Nursing Home Sued Over COVID Death - The Pantagraph

Teaching and Mentoring Programs

Chicago-Kent College of Law, 2022
Mentor for the UIC Law Alumni Mentor Program, 2022
Mentor for the Illinois State Bar Associations's Lawyer-to-Lawyer Mentoring, 2022
Mentor for the Women's Bar Association of Illinois, 2022
Trial Advocacy, Guest Speaker, at The John Marshall Law School, 2017

Education

Megan graduated from The John Marshall Law School (JMLS). While in law school, Megan was a JMLS Student Ambassador, a Phi Delta Phi Honor's Society member, on the Dean's List, a CALI Award recipient, and awarded as a Dean Johnston Academic Scholar. Out of 124 of her fellow students, Megan placed 2nd for her appellate brief and in oral argument in the Herzog Moot Court Competition. During law school, Megan expanded her legal knowledge by also working for various firms in the Chicagoland area which provided services in immigration law, family law, real estate law, and criminal law. While in law school, Megan worked for the Illinois State's Attorney's Appellate Prosecutor where all her cases were successfully affirmed in favor of the appellate prosecutor. During law school, Megan also worked with a firm which prosecuted birth injury cases across the nation in state and federal court for cases resulting in multi-million dollar settlements and jury verdicts.

J.D., The John Marshall Law School
B.A., Loyola University Chicago
Pre-Medicine, Biology, B.A.
Business Management