Education
B.S., University of Denver, 2002
J.D., summa cum laude, DePaul University School of Law, 2010
Bar Admissions
Illinois
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (Trial Bar)
U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana
Practice Areas
Federal Criminal Defense
Federal and State Criminal Appeals
Professional Discipline
“[A] very experienced and talented criminal defense lawyer”
James concentrates his practice in federal criminal defense and appeals. A seasoned litigator, James has appeared in more than one hundred federal criminal cases and has extensive trial and appellate experience in both state and federal court. His victories at trial include acquittals in cases ranging from simple drug charges to complex white-collar matters involving health-care benefits fraud. As a long-standing member of the federal Criminal Justice Act panel programs in the Seventh Circuit, Northern District of Indiana, and Northern District of Illinois, James has served as appointed counsel for scores of indigent defendants before federal courts in Illinois and Indiana.
Following his graduation summa cum laude from DePaul University College of Law in Chicago, where he served as Executive Editor of the DePaul Law Review, James worked for several years as a judicial clerk on the Illinois Appellate Court. He continued to hone his appellate experience as an adjunct faculty member at DePaul, where he taught upper-level courses in Appellate Practice & Procedure and in Illinois Civil Procedure.
Prior to attending law school, James was a commissioned officer in the U.S. Marine Corps and is committed to serving the legal needs of veterans.