James W. Saxton

James W. Saxton is the Vice Chair of Joy Metrics, and chairman and co-founder of Saxton & Stump. With more than 30 years of experience in medical professional liability (MPL), healthcare litigation, and quality assurance, Jim has worked closely with hospitals, physicians, and insurers to reduce risk and improve patient outcomes.

Throughout his career, Jim has overseen thousands of professional liability cases, including catastrophic claims, and has tried more than 80 cases to verdict. Beyond litigation, he has helped develop innovative risk reduction strategies, including clinical effectiveness dashboards, patient engagement tools, and national-scale quality and safety programs for healthcare systems and captive insurers.

Jim is widely regarded as a thought leader in healthcare risk management and has spent decades educating providers and industry stakeholders. He has delivered hundreds of presentations to national organizations, including the Physicians Insurers Association of America, as well as leading medical societies and hospital audiences, focusing on patient safety, litigation trends, and proactive risk mitigation.

In addition to his advisory work, Jim has authored more than 300 articles and multiple textbooks on healthcare liability, patient experience, and risk management. His work consistently emphasizes the intersection of data, quality, and workforce dynamics in improving care delivery. As Vice Chair of Joy Metrics, Jim brings deep expertise in medical liability, quality assurance, and healthcare system risk to support the company’s mission of helping health systems identify and address workforce strain before it leads to burnout, safety events, or turnover.