Concise homepage write up:James D. Cardea is a nationally recognized medical malpractice trial attorney with nearly three decades of experience. He has secured numerous seven-figure verdicts and settlements and is consistently honored as one of Maryland’s top trial lawyers, including recognition as a Super Lawyers Top 10 attorney in 2025 and a two-time member of The Daily Record’s Medical Malpractice Power List.

James D. Cardea, Esq. is a nationally recognized medical malpractice trial attorney with over 29 years of experience. Known for his tenacity and exceptional courtroom skill, Mr. Cardea has served as lead counsel in hundreds of cases across Maryland, Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey, earning one of the strongest trial records in the Baltimore–Washington region. His numerous seven-figure verdicts—including a $1.75 million Baltimore County verdict ranked by TopVerdict.com as one of the largest medical malpractice verdicts in the country in 2019—have been featured in The Baltimore Sun, The Daily Record, and other major publications.
Mr. Cardea has been repeatedly named one of Maryland’s Top 100 Attorneys by Maryland Super Lawyers and one of the Top 100 Trial Lawyers by the American Trial Lawyers Association. In 2025, he was honored as one of the Top 10 Lawyers in Maryland by Super Lawyers and selected by The Daily Record and the Maryland State Bar Association as a 2025 Leaders in Law honoree. He is also a proud member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), an exclusive, invitation-only organization recognizing integrity, professionalism, and significant trial experience. His career accolades further include recognition by Best Lawyers in America, Best Attorneys in America, the National Association of Distinguished Counsel, and the National Trial Lawyers Top 100. In both 2022 and 2023, he was one of only 25 attorneys statewide named to The Daily Record’s Medical Malpractice & Personal Injury Law Power List.
Mr. Cardea earned his undergraduate degree from McDaniel College and graduated cum laude from the University of Baltimore School of Law, where he received multiple American Jurisprudence Awards, served on the Law Review, and was inducted into the Heuisler Honor Society. Outside the courtroom, he sponsors the annual Dr. Don Cardea Memorial Golf Tournament benefiting Fox Chase Cancer Center and frequently mentors pre-law students at McDaniel College and Penn State University. A dedicated community member, avid sports fan, and golfer, Mr. Cardea is married and the father of three daughters.