James Waldenberger
Jim Waldenberger, a partner at Kline & Specter, is an experienced litigator who has a wealth of hands-on experience in personal injury cases that has resulted in an impressive record of legal victories.
Over his twenty-five years of practice, Jim had taken great pride in specializing in tough cases. Using a creative "out-of-the-box" type of approach to litigating, Jim has obtained seven and eight-figure verdicts and settlements for his clients in practice areas ranging from medical malpractice, product liability, premises liability, auto accidents, workplace injury and child sexual abuse. His wide-ranging record of victories has earned him inclusion in the 2017-2025 editions of the peer-review publication Best Lawyers in America.
Jim's trial successes include a $5.5 million jury award in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court for a mentally disabled man who was rendered quadriplegic when the commercial van in which he was riding struck a utility pole.
He also won a $3 million verdict for a woman who suffered nerve damage as a result of a missed colon cancer diagnosis, a 22-month delay in treatment that resulted in her having to undergo chemotherapy that caused nerve damage and permanent muscle and joint pain. (Read the news article)
In another verdict, Jim won $1.4 million for a Philadelphia man who died after doctors missed bone cancer in an X-ray of his right knee, leading to a spread of the cancer. He also won an $800,000 verdict in a case involving a Philadelphia woman who was injured in a fall at a nursing home, her injury resulting in the eventual amputation of one leg.
In September 2020, Waldenberger won one of the first pandemic-era verdicts in Pennsylvania with a $2.3 million jury award for man who lost his big toe and part of his foot when his ride-on lawnmower rolled over on a steep hill. (Read the story) He also wrote an article about dealing with COVID during trial for The Legal Intelligencer. (Read his article)
In 2024, Jim reached a $32 million settlement with Hahnemann University Hospital for the family of a child born severely brain damaged after doctors delayed performing a cesarean section. The boy, now nine years old, is quadriplegic, suffers severe communication impairment and must be nourished using a feeding tube.
This result was obtained little more than a year after Jim represented a seven-year-old child and obtained a $30 million settlement and safety improvements in a case involving an auto accident with a commercial vehicle in Delaware County, Pa., causing the child to suffer a severe brain injury.
Also in 2024, he achieved settlements of $8.1 million and $8.5 million in cases involving motor vehicle accidents resulting in death. He obtained a $7.5 million settlement in a medical malpractice matter for a client who suffered a severe brain injury from a delay in diagnosis and treatment of bacterial meningitis and a $2.6 million settlement for the family of a woman who died following a fall into a piece of industrial equipment.
In 2023, Jim obtained a $6.5 million settlement with Piazza Nissan of Ardmore, Pa., for the family of an 89-year-old woman who was struck and killed as she walked along the sidewalk by a company driver as his vehicle exited the dealership. (Read article)
That same year, he reached a $3.5 million settlement for a woman who suffered a brain injury as a result of a car accident caused by an improperly designed parking lot and a $4 million settlement for the family of a young woman whose suicide was not prevented while she was a patient at a psychiatric hospital.
Jim has obtained a long list of substantial recoveries for clients in a variety of cases, among them:
- $5.75 million for a man who suffered catastrophic brain injuries when his car was struck by a 36-ton dump truck in Delaware County, Pa.
- A $5.5 million arbitration award in Philadelphia for a man who sustained eye muscle damage during sinus surgery that resulted in permanent double vision.
- $5.35 million against the designers and builders of an industrial factory where an improper platform and equipment layout created a blind corner, resulting in a worker being struck by a forklift and suffering a foot injury that required amputation of his leg at the knee.
- $4.6 million for the family of a man killed in a multiple tractor-trailer pileup that occurred in a snowstorm.
- $4.2 million for an infant who suffered brain damage when a truck collided with the car driven by her mother at an intersection at which there was inadequate traffic control.
- $4 million for a worker injured at an industrial site after he was thrown into the side of his truck by a sudden blast of natural gas caused by another worker.
- $3.6 million for an infant and his parents following a delayed birth delivery that resulted in brain damage.
- $3.2 million for the family of a man killed in a motorcycle accident.
- $3 million for the estate of a cement truck driver who was killed after the vehicle struck a ditch and its 40,000-pound mixer dislodged, rolled forward and crushed the cab. The case, which involved negligence and product liability claims, settled in Northampton County. (See The Conley Case.)
- $2.6 million for a Paulsboro, N.J., garbage collector who suffered severe face and neck injuries when he was burned by sulfuric acid after a collection at a plumbing supply store.
- $2.3 million in a medical malpractice case for a man who suffered nerve damage during spinal cord surgery.
- $2.2 million in medical malpractice case of a man who suffered a brain injury because his stroke was not timely diagnosed and treated.
- $2 million in a medical malpractice case involving the death of a man with a congenital heart condition whose complaints of palpitations were ignored by his cardiologists.
- $2 million against the Philadelphia Department of Human Services for the improper placement of a five-year-old girl in a home for which DHS did not perform an adequate background check. The girl was raped by another child at the home.
- $2 million for the family of a 17-year-old who died after an emergency room visit where a heart infection was not diagnosed and timely treated.
- $2 million for a 17-year-old worker who was killed when a tire he was helping to inflate exploded at a Pennsylvania Turnpike rest area.
- $1.7 million in a case involving the death of a factory worker who fell into an industrial tank because of inadequate safety measures at the plant.
- $1.5 million in a premises liability case for a woman who suffered cognitive impairment following a trip and fall incident.
- $1.4 million in a case that involved the death of man whose doctors failed to diagnose a dissecting aorta. Settlement was achieved while a jury was deliberating a verdict at trial.
- $1 million – despite a $500,000 government liability cap -- from the City of Williamsport, Pa., for the family of a man who died after a police car smashed into his vehicle. The city also agreed to make changes in police pursuit procedures and the offending officer was fired.
Due to his extensive trial experience, Jim currently serves as an adjunct professor at the Thomas R. Kline School of Law at Drexel University, teaching Introduction to Trial Advocacy to law students.
In addition to the many legal victories he has earned, Jim plays an essential role at the firm helping his younger colleagues not only with their cases but also with managing their work/personal lives. This earned him selection as a finalist in The Legal Intelligencer's award for Mentor of the Year in 2024.
Jim attended Villanova University as an undergraduate, earning an English degree with honors. He also attended Villanova for law school, where he was a member of the National Moot Court Team.
Jim is a Fellow of Temple University's Academy of Trial Advocacy. He is a member of the bar in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern, Middle and Western Districts of Pennsylvania.
Jim Waldenberger In The News:
Best Law Firm Mentors 2024: Jim Waldenberger, The Legal Intelligencer, 5/3/24
Family Receives $6.5M Settlement for Woman, 89, Struck and Killed by Car, The Legal Intelligencer, 8/31/23
How Plaintiffs Counsel Negotiated a $6.5M Settlement Over an 89-Year-Old Woman's Wrongful Death, The Legal Intelligencer, 8/23/23
Jury Trials during COVID; A will to get it done is essential, by James Waldenberger - The Legal Intelligencer 9/30/20
Waldenberger wins $2.3 million verdict in lawn mower accident case, Williamsport Sun-Gazette, 9/14/20; The Legal Intelligencer 9/9/20
Waldenberger interviewed on NY Limo crash, Fox 29 News 10/8/2018
