James S. Bostwick - San Francisco, CA
Attorney at Bostwick & Associates
Personal Injury Lawyers in San Francisco, CA
50 California Street Suite 1500 San Francisco, CA 94111
- Free Consultation
- 1 Super Lawyers®
-
57
Years
Experience
San Francisco Personal Injury Lawyer
Updated: 10/19/2026
Areas of Practice
- Personal Injury
- Medical Malpractice
- Legal Malpractice
- Catastrophic Injuries
Attorney Information
Overview
TOP 100 TRIAL LAWYER IN THE NATION
James Bostwick is one of the most respected personal injury, medical and legal malpractice lawyers in the nation. As Founder of Bostwick & Associates, he’s cultivated a reputation as a top-tier specialist in catastrophic injuries including brain, spinal cord and amputations. He has handled hundreds of complex negligence cases and has secured numerous record-setting verdicts and settlements for his clients in multiple jurisdictions. Read more about Bostwick in this Lawdragon Hall of Fame Lawyer Limelight.
Representing the Injured Across the Nation
Bostwick has his main offices in the San Francisco Bay Area but practices in courts throughout California, Hawaii, Colorado, Oklahoma, Nevada, Washington, Florida, Arizona, and beyond. He is one of a few lawyers in the U.S. deemed a nationally Certified Medical Malpractice Specialist by the American Board of Professional Liability.
One of the Nation's Most Recognized Personal Injury Attorneys
Held in high regard by his peers, Bostwick has earned widespread recognition from many invitation-only organizations: Inner Circle of Advocates, limited to the top 100 plaintiff trial lawyers in the U.S., and considered the most exclusive trial lawyer organization in the world; The International Academy of Trial Lawyers, a group limited to the Top 500 plaintiff and defense trial lawyers in the U.S.; American Board of Trial Advocates; and the Lawdragon 500, all of which are based on peer selection. He’s been named to Best Lawyers in America© every year since its inception in 1983 and was named Best Lawyer’s Trial Lawyer of the Year in 2012, rated among the Top 4 Trial Lawyers by the California Bar Journal, and featured in Newsweek, Town and Country, and Forbes as one of America’s top trial lawyers.
In the past several years alone, Bostwick and the firm have secured many additional high-value settlements and verdicts in complex birth injury, medical malpractice, and personal injury claims ranging from $5 million to $21 million. These recoveries all reflect “present value,” rather than “payout” calculations which inflate the true value of case results.
A Legacy of Record-Setting Results
Bostwick has spent more than 40 years specializing in complex medical and legal malpractice as well as general personal injury law, and has set the bar for litigating some of the most complex and high-stakes cases in the country. He and the firm have set and broken many records – many of them his own.
In 1978, Bostwick obtained the largest medical malpractice verdict in U.S. history, and spent the years since setting state and national records for high-value recoveries in legal and medical malpractice, birth injury, and other personal injury claims.
Since January 2018, the firm has twice broken the State of California record for largest medical malpractice verdicts or settlements:
- In early 2018, Attorney Bostwick and the firm obtained a $14M malpractice settlement just before trial involving a neonatal brain injury. At the time, the result was the largest present value settlement in California history for a case that had not been tried to verdict.*
*Note that medical malpractice cases have strict “cap” limitations on non-economic damages in California. This very unfair law has not changed since 1975 and severely restricts recoveries. This explains why settlements and verdicts in California are much less than for comparable medical cases in other States.
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 and Honors
Awards
Honors
- Inducted into the Lawdragon 500 Hall of Fame
- San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association (SFTLA) Lifetime Achievement Award
- The Best Lawyers in America, 1983 - Present
- Best Lawyers “Trial Lawyer of the Year”, 2012
- Super Lawyers® Magazine, 2004 - Present
- Super Lawyers® Top 100: Northern California Super Lawyers, 2004 - 2008
- Super Lawyers® Top 100: Northern California Super Lawyers, 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)
- Presidential Award of Merit, California Trial Lawyers Association
- American Board of Trial Advocates
- International Academy of Trial Lawyers, a Group Limited to the Top 500 Plaintiff and Defense Trial Lawyers in the U.S.
- Inner Circle of Advocates, Limited To The Top 100 Plaintiff Trial Lawyers In The U.S
Other Sources of Feedback About James S. Bostwick
Included on the 2026 Northern California Super Lawyers list
Past Lists
- 2025 Northern California Super Lawyers list
- 2024 Northern California Super Lawyers list
- 2023 Northern California Super Lawyers list
- 2022 Northern California Super Lawyers list
- 2021 Northern California Super Lawyers list
- 2020 Northern California Super Lawyers list
- 2019 Northern California Super Lawyers list
- 2018 Northern California Super Lawyers list
- 2017 Northern California Super Lawyers list
- 2016 Northern California Super Lawyers list
- 2015 Northern California Super Lawyers list
- 2014 Northern California Super Lawyers list
- 2013 Northern California Super Lawyers list
- 2012 Northern California Super Lawyers list
- 2011 Northern California Super Lawyers list
- 2010 Northern California Super Lawyers list
- 2009 Northern California Super Lawyers list
- 2008 Northern California Super Lawyers list
- 2007 Northern California Super Lawyers list
- 2006 Northern California Super Lawyers list
- 2005 Northern California Super Lawyers list
- 2004 Northern California Super Lawyers list
Education
Legal Education
-
University of California College of the Law, San Francisco (formerly UC Hastings), San Francisco, California
J.D.
Non Legal Education
-
University of Seattle, WA
B.S.
Current Employment Position(s)
-
Founder
Bar Admissions
- California, 1969
- Hawaii, 1981
- U.S. District Court Eastern District of California
- U.S. District Court Northern District of California
- U.S. District Court Southern District of California
Specialties and Certifications
- American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys – Certified in Medical Malpractice
Other Affiliations
- California Bar Association (Member)
- Hawaii State Bar Association (Member)
- International Academy of Trial Lawyers (Past President)
- Inner Circle of Advocates (Member)
Photo
Contact
50 California Street
Suite 1500
San Francisco, CA 94111
Phone Number: 877-653-1993
Email: Send a message
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