James S. Bostwick

As founder of Bostwick & Peterson, James and his team have helped clients recover over $1 billion in compensation and set and broken numerous records for the highest verdicts and settlements.

Though his main office is in the San Francisco Bay Area, Bostwick is trusted by clients and colleagues across California, Hawaii, Colorado, and other U.S. states. He was one of the first attorneys in the country to become a Medical Malpractice Specialist as Certified by the American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys and remains one of a select few practitioners to hold this distinction. Mr. Bostwick is a member of the Inner Circle of Advocates, an exclusive invite-only organization comprised of the nation’s top 100 plaintiffs’ trial lawyers and a member and former president of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, limited to the top 500 trial lawyers in the US.

Since winning the largest medical malpractice verdict in the nation in 1978, Mr. Bostwick has gone on to secure record results for clients in multiple states and venues, and has helped the firm beat the California record for largest medical malpractice recovery twice since 2018.

His ability to win top-dollar recoveries makes the difference for clients in need of compensation and for medical malpractice victims who face unfair damages caps that limit compensatory damages for pain and suffering to just $250,000 (in California).

Notable Verdicts & Settlements

• $21M – Record verdict for a mild traumatic brain injury, auto/truck accident. (2000)
• $17M – Largest California medical malpractice settlement to date. (2019)
• $14M – Largest California medical malpractice settlement at the time. (2018)
• $11.4M – Largest California birth injury settlement at the time. (2010)
• $11M – Largest injury settlement in Hawaii history at the time (2000)
• $8.9M – Largest birth injury award against the U.S. Government in the US Federal Court at the time. (Hawaii, 1985)
• $8.0M - Largest medical malpractice settlement in Oklahoma history at the time (1985)
• $7.6M – Largest medical malpractice verdict in the U.S. at the time (1978).
• $6.4M – Largest legal malpractice verdict for an individual in California at the time (1984).

Awards & Accolades

• The Best Lawyers in America© (1983-2021)
• Best Lawyers “Trial Lawyer of the Year” (2012 and 2013)
• Super Lawyers® Magazine (2004-2021)
• Super Lawyers® Top 100: Northern California Super Lawyers (2004-2008 and 2012)
• Top 4 Trial Lawyers, California Bar Journal
• Top 5 Medical Malpractice Trial Lawyers in SF (Chronicle)
• Top 60 Trial Lawyers in America (Forbes, Town & Country)
• Lawdragon Top 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers (2020 and 2021)
• AV® Preeminent™ Rated, Martindale-Hubbell®

Memberships / Distinctions

• Invited Member, Past President (2003), International Academy of Trial Lawyers (Top 500 trial lawyers in the US).
• Invited Member, Inner Circle of Advocates (Top 100 plaintiffs’ trial lawyers in the US).
• Invited Member, American Board of Trial Advocates.
• Founding Member, American Board of Professional Liability (Certification of special competence on the field of professional liability) and recertified in 2000.
• San Francisco and California Trial Lawyers “Trial Lawyer of the Year” Nominee, 1978.
• Consumer Attorneys of California “Trial Lawyer of the Year “Nominee, 2000
• Presidential Award of Merit, Consumer Attorneys of California, 2000.
• National Law Journal Elite Trial Lawyers National Finalist, Medical Malpractice (2019).

Publications

• Author of novel “Acts of Omission”, nominated for the 2020 Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction (Post Hill Press, 2019).
• Author of “Medical Malpractice: Preparation and Trial of Birth Injury Cases” Plaintiff’s Magazine

Certifications

• Medical Malpractice Specialist - American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys.

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