James F. Boccardo (July 1, 1911–March 17, 2003) was an American trial lawyer, businessman, and philanthropist from Santa Clara County, California.
[1][3] Boccardo then became known as a trial lawyer based in San Jose, California, practicing both torts and criminal defense.
[3] He was well known for representing, with well-known San Francisco criminal defense attorney George T. Davis, the defendant in the 1946 Thomas Talle murder trial.
[1] Boccardo was a pioneer in the use of visual aids, models, and videotape as courtroom exhibits to explain complex facts.
[1][2] In 1970, Boccardo appeared in the Guinness Book of World Records for winning $3.6 million in a personal injury case, at the time the largest such verdict.
[1] After his death, Santa Clara County District Attorney George Kennedy said that Boccardo's "reputation was one of the first things I knew about this area.
In that case in 1987, the Ninth Circuit ruled in favor of Boccardo, reversing the United States Tax Court.
[2] Described as "mercurial" and "well-dressed," with a "neat, trimmed mustache," he had homes in Los Gatos, Palm Springs, and Pebble Beach.
She asked the court to allow her $10,850 a month (equivalent to approximately $71,000 in 2021) temporary maintenance and support pending trial in a divorce action brought against her husband.
Lorraine Vernon Dimmett Boccardo is buried in Los Gatos Memorial Park, in San Jose CA.
In 1997, he gave funds for a 250-bed homeless shelter for the San Jose Emergency Housing Consortium, the James F. Boccardo Regional Reception Center.