Jim is a partner in the general litigation group in the Jackson office. He handles complex commercial litigation matters including consumer finance litigation, "bad faith" insurance litigation, trade secrets, copyright and other intellectual property cases, products liability, state and federal antitrust law, and contracts. Jim represents several banks and financial institutions in defense of cases including credit insurance and lending practices, and insurance carriers in defense of direct actions filed by insureds. He has also handled environmental law cases, both in the context of civil actions against manufacturers and in environmental coverage litigation. He is often consulted by lawyers both within and outside the firm on questions regarding federal removal jurisdiction. Another aspect of his practice is appellate law - to date he has appeared in over 100 appeals in Federal and State Courts, nearly always as lead counsel. He has secured several interlocutory appeals for clients. Jim is a member of the American Law Institute, and is one of only three Mississippi lawyers on the ALI's membership consultative groups on Economic Torts, Unjust Enrichment, and Aggregate Litigation. He is the only Mississippi lawyer on ALI's consultative group on Software Contracts. He is a faculty member for the National Institute of Trial Advocacy. He teaches Remedies, Products Liability, and Capital Punishment Law as an adjunct professor at Mississippi College School of Law. Jim has been awarded the "AV" rating by Martindale-Hubbell Legal Directory, which is the highest possible rating for legal ability and ethical standards. He has twice been acknowledged as a source by John Grisham for providing background information for Grisham's novels "The Appeal" and "The Chamber."

• Mississippi College, J.D., 1985; Editor-in-Chief, Mississippi College Law Review
• Whitworth College, B.A., summa cum laude, 1981

• American Law Institute
• Faculty, National Institute of Trial Advocacy
• Co-chair: Death Penalty Representation Task Force, ABA Section of Litigation
• Commissioner: Mississippi Public Defender Commission
• Elder: Fondren Presbyterian Church (USA); Presbytery of Mississippi
• Member: The Mississippi Bar; Mississippi Public Defenders' Association; American Bar Association (Section of Litigation); Fifth Circuit Bar Association; Hinds County Bar Association

• Note, "Public Utilities - Charitable Contributions No Longer Chargeable as Operating Expenses in Mississippi," Mississippi College Law Review 353 (1994)
• "From the Crossing of the Rubicon to the Return of the Republic: The Mississippi Supreme Court's View of the Judicial Role, 1980-2004," (with M. Wallace) Federalist Society (October 20, 2004), http://www.fed-soc.org/doclib/20070325_mississippi.pdf

• Representation of State agency in litigation involving failures in a contracted-for computer software system (won $299 M actual damages verdict, largest in Mississippi history).
• Representation of parties to software development contracts in pre-project and post-defect contract negotiation and litigation.
• Representation of gaming entity in antitrust/patent litigation (won $39 M verdict).
• Representation of manufacturers in product liability cases involving alleged defects in design and/or warning in United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
• Representation of manufacturer in plant explosion case in United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
• Representation of insurance carriers in bad faith litigation brought by insureds.
• Representation of banks and consumer finance companies in State and Federal Court litigation on alleged "predatory lending."
• Representation of computer hardware manufacturers in trade secrets litigation in state and federal court.
• Representation of municipalities in Voting Rights Act litigation.
• Representation of state agencies and county governments in various types of administrative law and constitutional litigation.
• Representation of state association of manufacturers and state association of bankers as amicus curiae in various cases in Mississippi Supreme Court and United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
• Representation of three gaming entities in administrative law appeals to the Mississippi Supreme Court regarding interpretation of the Mississippi Gaming Commission's licensing and site approval authority.
• Representation in multi-district patent litigation consolidated for pre-trial procedures for proceedings in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi.
• Representation of home health agencies in regulatory and business tort litigation in state trial and appellate courts.
• Representation of employers in litigation involving restrictive employment covenants.
• Extensive experience in securing or defending against injunctive relief in commercial litigation.
• Extensive experience in interlocutory appellate proceedings in commercial litigation.
• Extensive experience in litigating federal removal jurisdiction.
• Appellate representation in habeas corpus challenges to convictions and death sentences in State and Federal Court.