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 national thought leader in healthcare risk management and patient safety. He has delivered hundreds of presentations to leading medical societies and industry organizations, including the Medical Professional Liability Association, the American Urological Association, the American College of Surgeons, the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, and the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons, as well as national medical liability and insurance forums. His work focuses on litigation trends, patient communication, and data-driven strategies to reduce preventable harm.

In addition to his advisory work, Jim has authored more than 300 articles and multiple books and textbook chapters on healthcare liability, patient experience, and risk management. Across decades of work with physicians and healthcare leaders, he has consistently emphasized how communication, culture, and system design directly influence both patient outcomes and liability risk.

Jim has also held leadership and advisory roles across the healthcare and legal communities, including service with the American Health Lawyers Association, the Hospital Association of Pennsylvania, and on the Board of Directors of Surgical Review Corporation.

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.