Accordion: Vaccine Injury Clinic About the Faculty
Professorial Lecturer in Law and Co-Director, Renée J. Gentry
Ms. Gentry is the Co-Director of the Vaccine Injury Litigation Clinic and currently serves as President of the Vaccine Injured Petitioners Bar Association, a national bar representing the interests of claimants in the NVICP. As the Senior Analyst on the Defense and Aerospace Companies Briefing for Teal Group Corporation, Renée J. Gentry consulted for the US Government, French Government, and major prime contractors on European defense industry consolidation, antitrust issues, specific defense market overviews for product development and profiles of companies designed to assist management in acquisition activities. After leaving Teal Group, she worked as principal liaison to corporate clients, as well as the Washington National Opera and Domingo-Cafritz Young Artists Program advising them on a range of immigration issues. She has practiced vaccine litigation since 2001.
Renée J. Gentry is a named partner with Shoemaker, Gentry & Knickelbein in Vienna, VA. She is one of the leading experts on vaccine injury litigation in the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (NVICP).
Ms. Gentry has advised numerous congressional members, staff and committees on issues relevant to the NVICP, as well as help to draft proposed legislation. She is licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia, and is admitted to the Federal Claims Court Bar.She is a member of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims Bar Association and the American Association for Justice (formerly ATLA).
Visiting Professor of Law and Co-Director, Clifford J. Shoemaker
Clifford Shoemaker has served as the Co-Director of the Vaccine Injury Litigation Clinic since 2007. Mr. Shoemaker graduated from Drake University in 1973 with a J.D. and an M.B.A. He was a member of the Drake Law Review. After graduation, Mr. Shoemaker entered the Marine Corps Judge Advocate Division, where his last assignment was director of the legal assistance program for the entire Marine Corps. During that time, he obtained his LLM in taxation at The George Washington University Law School by attending evening classes. Since leaving active duty in 1977, Mr. Shoemaker has been in private practice, primarily representing children and adults who have been injured by vaccines. During the Swine Flu Litigation in the late 1970s, Mr. Shoemaker served on the Plaintiff’s Steering Committee in multi‐district litigation, earning a special bonus for his work from the Honorable Judge Gerhard Gesell, who handled the MDL proceedings.
He tried numerous cases involving injuries, such as Guillain-Barre Syndrome, following swine flu vaccines in Federal District Courts all over the country. He also successfully argued before the U.S. Supreme Court that military members were entitled to bring claims against the government under the National Swine Flu Act. After that, he was involved in other vaccine litigation and Dalkon Shield litigation. He was involved in the establishment of the no-fault National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (NVICP) in the late 1980s, and he has been involved in representing clients in that program ever since.