James Ford has a B.A. from the University of Michigan, and a J.D. magna cum laude from the University of Georgia School of law. From 1968 through 1973 he was an Air Force pilot, flying 65 combat missions as a flight commander in Vietnam. After graduation from law school he spent two years as house counsel for the Upjohn Company handling drug liability cases. Since 1977 he has been in private practice, trying medical malpractice cases and other complex forms of litigation. During his career Mr. Ford has received numerous professional awards, including the Raymond Fox Award for a case that changed how juries are selected in several Michigan counties, and the John N. Vlachos award for appealing a pro bono case to the United States Supreme Court on behalf of a student at Western Michigan University. A transcript of that trial was included in "Bill of Wrongs," the last book written by Molly Ivins. In 1999 he was selected by Michigan Lawyers Weekly as one of their ten lawyers of the year in the State of Michigan. He is the author of "I Lived in Those Times," a memoir published by Amazon Books.
