James J. Kjar

Jim Kjar has concentrated his practice in the defense of major civil injury cases. He is considered one of the top trial lawyers in California. He has tried over 100 cases in such diverse areas as medical, legal and accounting malpractice, employment law, elder abuse, product liability, general liability and insurance bad faith. He has written and lectured extensively in the area of trial tactics and techniques. He has been invited to speak at numerous state and national trial lawyer and insurance conferences as well as hospitals, bar associations and law schools.

Mr. Kjar has comprehensive experience in representing attorneys in legal malpractice actions and State Bar Proceedings. He has been asked to defend some of the most prestigious trial lawyers and law firms in California including serving as lead counsel on the Los Angeles County Bar Association malpractice program. He is certified by the State Bar of California as a Legal Malpractice Specialist.

Mr. Kjar is a member of the oldest trial lawyer organization in the United States, The American Board of Trial Advocates. He has achieved Diplomate status which requires over 100 civil jury verdicts. He has been invited to speak at the Annual ABOTA “Masters in Trial” conference.Mr. Kjar is also a member of The American College of Trial Lawyers, which is considered the preeminent trial lawyer organization in the country. The ACTL is an invitation only organization. Potential members are nominated within the ACTL and then vetted for 2 years during which time surveys are sent to all opposing counsel, co counsel and judges which the attorney has litigated with. The ACTL limits its membership to the top 1% of attorneys in the U.S. and Canada. Jim is also a member of The California Medical Legal Committee which is comprised of the top 50 Northern and Southern California medical malpractice defense trial lawyers.

Mr. Kjar is also a member of the FDCC. The Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel was formed 80 years ago. Its members are national and international coordinating counsel as well as trial attorneys and claims directors of national insurance companies all over the world. Membership is by invitation only and subjected to an intense peer review process. The Federation members include presidents and officers of leading trial lawyer organizations such as The American College of Trial Lawyers, The American Board of Trial Advocates and the International Academy of Trial Lawyers. Insurance industry leaders are also in the FDCC.

Mr. Kjar has been rated AV( Preeminent) by Martindale Hubbell since 1993. In 2018 Mr. Kjar was again rated AV in the prestigious Martindale “Judicial Edition” which includes the ratings by judges in addition to lawyers. Mr. Kjar has been named a Super Lawyer by Los Angeles Magazine every year since its inception in 2004 to the present. His trials have been profiled numerous times in the Los Angeles Daily Journal and Verdict Magazine. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel which is the largest defense organization in the U.S. He is a member of the Litigation counsel of America.

University of Southern California
B.A. Philosophy, 1977

Loyola of Los Angeles Law School
J.D. 1980

California State Bar

USDC Central District, California

Certified by State Bar of California as a Legal Malpractice Specialist since 2013

Considered one of the top civil litigation defense trial lawyers in California.  Has been asked by some of the top trial lawyers and firms to defend them in their legal malpractice cases.

Has tried over 100 jury trials.  Has been asked by numerous state and national trial lawyer organizations to lecture on trial tactics and techniques.

Has lectured to many medical schools, large hospitals and large medical groups on prevention of and handling of medical malpractice lawsuits.

Is an Advocate member of The American Board of Trial Lawyers (ABOTA) which requires over 100 jury trials.

Is a member of The American College of Trial Lawyers which is considered the most prestigious trial lawyer organization in the U.S.

Member of the California Medical Legal Committee which limits its membership to the top 50 medical malpractice defense trial lawyers in California.

Member of Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel (FDCC), the most prestigious organization in the U.S. for defense trial lawyers and insurance claims executives

ABOTA (Diplomate)

American College of Trial Lawyers

California Medical Legal Committee

Association of Southern California Defense Counsel (Member, Board of Directors)

Litigation Counsel of America

Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel (FDCC)

Author/Presenter: "Cross-Examination of a Medical Expert at Trial," Los Angeles Trial Lawyers Association (LATLA) Annual Symposium, (Oct. 1989)

"Common Mistakes of Plaintiff Personal Injury Lawyers at Trial," California Trial Lawyers Association Annual Symposium (Sept. 1990)

"Mock Trial of a Personal Injury Case," LATLA Annual Symposium (Sept. 1991)

"Cross-Examination of Plaintiff’s Economist Expert at Trial," LATLA Annual Symposium (Sept. 1992)

Guest Speaker: Annual Convention of International College of Surgeons (Oct. 1993)

"Persuasive Presentation of Damages," Los Angeles Trial Lawyers Association Annual Damages Symposium (June 1993)

"Medical Malpractice Litigation: The Defense Perspective," "California Trial Lawyers Annual Convention" (Nov. 1994)

"Courtroom Conduct: Tactics, Ethics, Contempt, and Common Sense," California Continuing Education of the Bar (June 1994)

"Techniques in Taking the Deposition of a Plaintiff," Los Angeles Trial Lawyers Association (March 1995)

"Cross-Examination of Plaintiff at Trial - Mock Trial of a Legal Malpractice Case" Consumer’s Attorneys Association of Los Angeles Annual Convention (October 1997)

"The Defense Perspective on the Plaintiff’s Case for the Uninitiated" Consumer Attorneys Association of California Annual Tahoe Seminar (March 1997)

"Mock Trial of a Premises Liability Case", CAALA Annual Convention, (October 1999)

"How to Avoid Being Sued for Legal Malpractice", CAALA Annual Convention, (August 2002)

"Defending Medical Malpractice Cases", American Society of Bariatric Surgeons Annual Meeting, (June 2002)

Legal Malpractice Litigation: Presented at Association of Southern California Defense Counsel Annual Santa Barbara Seminar, November, 2002

Moderator: "The Current State of Medical Malpractice Litigation in California" Association Of Southern California Defense Counsel Annual Santa Barbara Seminar, November, 2003

"Defending Bariatric Surgery Cases" California Medical Legal Committee, April, 2008.

"Trial of Cases Involving Agency Theories" California Medical Legal Committee Annual Meeting, March 2009

"Mock Trial of a Legal Malpractice Case" presented at NABRICO (North American Bar Related Insurance Companies) Annual Meeting, October 2009

"Legal Exposure for Defending Medical Spas" Presented at Annual American Society for Healthcare Risk Management (ASHRM) Convention, October 2009

"Cross-Examination of Experts at Trial" CAALA Annual Convention, 2010

"Defending the High-Risk Physician" presented at Crittendon Medical National Insurance Conference, April 2011

"Defending Hospitals against Agency Theories", Southern California Association for Healthcare Risk Management (SCAHRM), February 2013

"Closing Arguments" presented at ABOTA Annual Masters In Trial, June 2012

"Use of Experts at Trial", CAALA Annual Convention, 2011

"National Trends in Medical Malpractice Cases", National Executive Summit on healthcare litigation, Farmington, CT, September 2012

Lecturer at Cedar Sinai Medical Center Spine Surgery Grand Rounds, May 2013

"Handling Medical Malpractice Cases", presented to Beverly Hills Bar Association, June 2014

"Handling Arbitration of Medical Malpractice and other Professional Liability Cases", presented at CAALA Annual Convention, September 2014.

Moderator at Crittenden Conference re: “Emerging Theories Facing Tort Litigators, Crittenden National Medical Conference” (April 2015)

Moderator at Crittenden Conference re: "Millennials and Medicine: What Does the Future Hold?" (April 2016).

2018 Annual ABOTA Masters In Trial participant: "Trial of a Sexual Harassment Case"

Speaker at 18th Annual Obstetric Malpractice Claims Conference, Philadelphia, June 2019. Presented by American Conference Institute.

Rated AV (“Preeminent”) by Martindale Hubbell

Southern California Super Lawyer by Los Angeles Magazine from 2004-2017

Trials profiled in Los Angeles Daily Journal in December 1993 and March 1999

Profiled in Verdict Magazine in April 1999 and July 2003

Participated multiple times in Annual ABOTA Masters in Trial program