James A. Goldstein

James A. “Jimmy” Goldstein is a founding partner of Goldstein Hayes Trial Lawyers, an Atlanta-based trial firm representing individuals and families in serious and catastrophic injury and wrongful death litigation throughout Georgia. For more than four decades, Goldstein has represented plaintiffs in complex cases involving medical malpractice and birth injury, traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries, commercial trucking and motor vehicle collisions, product and vehicle liability, drowning and aquatic injuries, sexual abuse, and other significant personal injury matters.

Medical malpractice and birth injury litigation have been central components of Goldstein’s practice throughout his career. His work includes cases involving physician and hospital negligence, delayed diagnosis and treatment, surgical negligence, obstetrical malpractice, birth trauma, catastrophic neurological injuries, and wrongful death. Goldstein Hayes Trial Lawyers has recovered more than $200 million in medical malpractice cases, and Goldstein’s medical litigation experience includes cases requiring extensive expert testimony and analysis of complex issues involving standards of care, medical and scientific causation, permanent disability, future medical treatment, life-care needs, and substantial damages.

Goldstein’s record extends well beyond medical malpractice. He has represented plaintiffs in serious commercial trucking and motor vehicle cases, traumatic brain and spinal injury litigation, product liability, catastrophic injury, and wrongful death matters. His results include a $24 million recovery arising from a commercial motor vehicle collision in Gwinnett County, Georgia, that resulted in catastrophic brain injury and extensive lifetime-care needs; a major medical malpractice recovery involving the failure to timely diagnose a stroke; and a $9.3 million jury verdict obtained in 2025 for a client seriously injured in a bicycle collision in Sandy Springs, Georgia, following a trial in the State Court of Fulton County. His career includes numerous multimillion-dollar recoveries and two verdicts that established records when they were returned.

Goldstein has received substantial professional recognition for his work as a plaintiff trial lawyer. He has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America® for Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs and holds an AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rating from Martindale-Hubbell. The National Trial Lawyers has recognized Goldstein among its Top 25 Medical Malpractice Trial Lawyers, Top 25 Motor Vehicle Trial Lawyers, Top 25 Products Liability Trial Lawyers, and Top 100 Trial Lawyers. He has also received recognition from America’s Top 100 in Medical Malpractice Litigation, High Stakes Litigation, and Personal Injury Litigation, as well as Lifetime Achievement recognition from America’s Top 100 Attorneys.

Goldstein’s professional leadership includes service on the Executive Committee of The National Trial Lawyers and involvement in specialized vaccine injury litigation before the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. He is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and has maintained longstanding involvement in organizations supporting the plaintiff trial bar and civil justice system.

Before focusing his practice on representing injured individuals and families, Goldstein gained experience representing corporations and financial institutions and later represented Fulton County, Georgia, in wrongful death litigation. That background provides perspective on institutional and corporate defense strategies that he has applied throughout a career representing plaintiffs in complex civil litigation.

Goldstein earned his Juris Doctor from Emory University School of Law and has practiced law in Georgia since 1980. As a founding partner of Goldstein Hayes Trial Lawyers, he continues to represent plaintiffs in significant cases involving serious injury, permanent disability, and wrongful death while helping lead the firm’s catastrophic injury and complex litigation practice.