About James Heckbert
James G. Heckbert focuses his practice on claims involving personal injury and wrongful death, ski injuries, auto and truck collisions, construction site negligence, medical malpractice, gas explosions, and defective products. In a distinguished career spanning four decades, he has secured eight jury verdicts in excess of $1 million and is a member of the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum. Due to the high-profile nature of his practice, two of his cases were the subjects of segments on CBS's 60 Minutes, two others appeared on ABC's 20/20, and one appeared on NBC's Dateline. He is named to both Colorado Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers in America. He graduated first in his class from Ohio Northern University Pettit College of Law in 1974.
Proven verdicts and settlements at Burg Simpson Eldredge Hersh Jardine
These results are credited to Burg Simpson Eldredge Hersh Jardine. A result appears under an attorney's own name only when a published source names them as counsel on the case.
A Maricopa County jury awarded $58.5 million to families who donated deceased relatives' bodies believing they would be used for medical research, only to learn the Biological Resource Center of Arizona had dismembered and sold the remains to brokers worldwide.
A federal jury awarded Georgina Perez $55.5 million after a Sunbeam Express Crock Multi-Cooker lid blew off and caused severe burns; the court later reduced the award to roughly $9.1 million under Colorado's statutory damages cap.
A Denver jury awarded $31.8 million to the family of an 82-year-old woman killed and other residents injured when a punctured Xcel Energy gas line exploded at Heather Gardens retirement community in 2018, assigning Xcel 12% of the fault.
A Sears technician miswired Jacqueline Gebert's electric stove in January 2019, and she was electrocuted while lifting a pan. An Arapahoe County jury found Sears negligent and awarded $2,700,000, made up of $2,000,000 in noneconomic damages and $700,000 for physical impairment. The court cut the noneconomic part to the $468,010 statutory limit, so $1,168,010 stood. The Colorado Court of Appeals affirmed in 2023 and upheld the cap against a Seventh Amendment challenge.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is unique and depends on its own facts.
