James Wilkens, senior trial counsel to the firm, joined Duffy & Duffy in 2003. Listed in The Best lawyers in America and The Best Lawyers in New York, Mr. Wilkens focuses on catastrophic medical malpractice cases.

He obtained the highest verdict in the U.S., $109 million, for a young man who was the victim of a delayed diagnosis of a brain abscess. He obtained 2002’s highest medical malpractice verdict, $94.8 million, for a young Brooklyn boy stricken with cerebral palsy. Mr. Wilkens has, at different times, secured the highest medical malpractice verdicts up to those times in Westchester and Nassau Counties. His $24 million verdict for a young victim of sickle cell anemia was the largest reported verdict for a victim of that disease.

A former member of the board of directors of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association, Mr. Wilkens has served as chairman of its Lead Paint Litigation Committee and has been a frequent lecturer. He is a member of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, the New York Academy of Trial Lawyers and the New York State Bar Association. He has also served as a faculty member of the National Institute for Trial Advocacy, instructing other experienced attorneys in trial technique.