James is a staunch advocate for clients, defending major companies in toxic tort, product liability, and commercial litigation across the county.
A fierce litigator, James handles a wide variety of cases with a particular focus on premises liability, personal injury, product liability, design defect, and commercial litigation. James also serves as national coordinating counsel for toxic tort litigation, with a particular focus in Illinois’s Cook County and McLean County—two of the country’s most notoriously difficult jurisdictions for defendants.
While James’s focus is broader today, he cut his teeth on asbestos and toxic tort matters and still practices extensively in the toxic tort area. James brings a working-class perspective to his cases, thanks to this mother, who worked as a union electrician. This allows him to understand the finer points of the work itself and the mechanics of how an incident or exposure would have occurred. Born and raised in the city of Chicago, he understands the jurisdiction on a visceral level as, he grew up in its neighborhoods.
James has worked extensively in each phase of litigation and approaches each case holistically, to obtain the best resolution possible for clients. While he is a litigator who’s not afraid to go the distance for clients, he routinely collaborates with clients at the inception and throughout the case to enact the strategy that is best for their needs.
Prior to joining the firm, James clerked as a legal extern for the Honorable Judge John W. Darrah, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois.