Fort Lauderdale, FL – August 20, 2026 – Bernheim Kelley Injury Lawyers announced today that founding partner Walter Kelley has been selected for inclusion in the 2027 edition of The Best Lawyers in America® in two categories: Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs and Product Liability Litigation – Plaintiffs.
This is Kelley’s fifth consecutive year on the list. He has been recognized by Best Lawyers every year since 2023.
Best Lawyers is the oldest peer-review publication in the legal profession, first published in 1983. Selection is not something a lawyer can buy, apply for, or advertise into. Honorees are chosen entirely through confidential peer review, in which practicing attorneys assess the lawyers they compete against and refer work to. Roughly 5% of practicing attorneys in the United States earn a place on the list in any given year.
Kelley is Managing Partner of the firm’s Massachusetts offices in Plymouth and Boston. His practice centers on catastrophic injury, wrongful death, and claims against manufacturers of defective and dangerous products. He has served in court-appointed leadership roles in multidistrict litigation before the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, including Plaintiffs’ Liaison Counsel in MDL No. 3029, In Re: Covidien Hernia Mesh Products Liability Litigation, and co-lead counsel in MDL No. 2768, In Re: Stryker LFIT V40 Femoral Head Products Liability Litigation.
“Walter has spent his career going after companies that hurt people and then hope nobody notices,” said co-founder Jesse Bernheim. “Getting named in two categories, year after year, is not a marketing exercise. It comes from lawyers on the other side of the courtroom who know exactly what he does.”
Product liability work sits at the center of that record. Cases against manufacturers do more than compensate one injured person. They can release internal documents, force design changes, and put safety information in front of regulators and the public.
Kelley tried two of the most significant tobacco cases in Massachusetts history:
- In 2019, he won a $21 million verdict against Philip Morris USA in Laramie v. Philip Morris USA, Inc., including a punitive damages award later upheld by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.
- In 2023, he secured a $200 million jury verdict against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in Jones v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. in Suffolk Superior Court.
“The recognition is meaningful, but it belongs to the clients,” said Kelley. “People come to us on the worst day of their lives and trust us with everything that comes after. Whatever I have accomplished came from standing next to them.”
About Walter Kelley
Walter Kelley is a founding partner of Bernheim Kelley Injury Lawyers and Managing Partner of the firm’s Massachusetts offices in Plymouth and Boston. He represents plaintiffs in personal injury and product liability litigation, with an emphasis on catastrophic injury, wrongful death, defective medical devices, and mass tort litigation.
He is admitted in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, and holds a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology from the University of Massachusetts and a Juris Doctor from the New England School of Law. He has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America® for five consecutive years, beginning in 2023, and is recognized in the 2027 edition for Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs and Product Liability Litigation – Plaintiffs.
About Bernheim Kelley Injury Lawyers
Bernheim Kelley Injury Lawyers is a plaintiff-side personal injury and mass tort firm headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with additional offices in Miami, Jacksonville, Fort Myers, and Starke, Florida, plus Boston and Plymouth, Massachusetts, and Nashville, Tennessee. The firm handles personal injury, product liability, mass tort, workers’ compensation, and consumer protection matters, and has recovered more than $1 billion for clients.
Free consultations are available. Call 888-902-5867 or contact us online.
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Frequently Asked Questions About Walter Kelley’s Best Lawyers Recognition
The Best Lawyers in America® is a peer-review legal ranking first published in 1983. Attorneys are selected by confidential evaluations from other practicing lawyers in their region and practice area. Lawyers cannot pay for inclusion or nominate themselves.
Walter Kelley is a founding partner of Bernheim Kelley Injury Lawyers and Managing Partner of the firm’s Massachusetts offices. He represents plaintiffs in personal injury and product liability litigation and has been named to The Best Lawyers in America® for five consecutive years.
Kelley was recognized in the 2027 edition of The Best Lawyers in America® for Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs and Product Liability Litigation – Plaintiffs, in the Massachusetts region.
Kelley has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America® for five consecutive years, beginning with the 2023 edition.
Walter Kelley practices from Bernheim Kelley’s Massachusetts offices at 26 Howland Street, Plymouth, MA 02360 and One State Street, Suite 200, Boston, MA. He is admitted in Massachusetts and the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
He was appointed Plaintiffs’ Liaison Counsel in MDL No. 3029, In Re: Covidien Hernia Mesh Products Liability Litigation, co-lead counsel in MDL No. 2768, In Re: Stryker LFIT V40 Femoral Head Products Liability Litigation, and to the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee in MDL No. 2657, In Re: Zofran Products Liability Litigation.