Jim is a partner whose practice focuses on complex civil litigation and business disputes with an emphasis on business, corporate and fiduciary matters, including business torts, breach of fiduciary duty, unfair competition and intellectual property litigation.He advises clients on risk analysis and dispute resolution.He chaired the firm's Litigation Group from 1992 to 1996.
Jim has more than 35 years of experience in trial and appellate courts in Massachusetts. He is admitted in several other jurisdictions, including the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the First, Second, Third and Seventh Circuits in Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Chicago, respectively; as well as the U.S. District Courts for the Districts of Massachusetts and the Northern District of Ohio; and the U.S. Tax Court. He has also been specially admitted for particular matters in state and/or federal courts in New Hampshire, Connecticut, Illinois, Texas and Washington State. He is an experienced negotiator and has served as a court-appointed master and mediator in complex business disputes.
In 2009 and 2010, Jim was named a Massachusetts "Super Lawyer" by Boston magazine and Law & Politics. He was recently selected by his peers for inclusion in the 2012 edition of The Best Lawyers in America in the field of Corporate Law.
Representative Matters
- Recovered on behalf of investors a $4 million settlement from the CEO of a public company, paid by the CEO personally and not by the company
- Secured a judgment of more than $6 million against a director who misappropriated funds that were intended for investment in a corporation
- Obtained a decision rejecting the decision of a public company's special litigation committee to terminate a shareholder derivative action alleging executive misconduct, and played a significant role in a proxy contest that ultimately generated approximately $64 million for shareholders. The case is the subject of a Harvard Business School Case Study and featured in a recently published book on corporate governance.
- Negotiated a $1.5 million settlement of patent infringement claims against a large international business-news media company
- Secured a settlement of $1 million during trial in a corporate opportunity case against corporate officers of a private company
- Represented the audit committee of a public company in an internal investigation
- Represented an officer of a public company in a joint securities fraud investigation by the Department of Justice and the SEC
- Represented the chairman of the board of a public company in a special investigation that successfully avoided SEC enforcement actions
- Successfully defended a former CEO from company allegations of improper conduct, and subsequently obtained an arbitration award compelling the company to fully reimburse the entire cost of the client's defense
- Obtained injunctions in trademark infringement cases and successfully defended them on appeal
- Defeated a motion for preliminary injunction and subsequently obtained an arbitration award in a complex trade secret case establishing that the client had legitimately acquired the right to use the plaintiff's allegedly secret manufacturing technology, valued at $10 million, without royalty obligations
- Obtained a judgment for triple damages plus attorneys' fees exceeding $1 million in a construction contract dispute
- Obtained an appellate decision that not only required an insurer to defend and indemnify its insured in a case disputing coverage and the duty to defend, but ordered the insurer to reimburse the litigation expense
- Obtained a landmark decision from the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruling that newspapers cannot be subjected to sales and use tax based on the proportion of space devoted to advertising
- Obtained a landmark decision from the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts affirming a trial court decision exonerating senior hospital officials from claims that they wrongfully terminated hospital privileges and engaged in improper electronic eavesdropping on a medical staff physician
- Obtained from the U.S. Court of Appeals a decision granting judgment for the plaintiff and remanding to the U.S. District Court of Appeals for calculation of damages in a case interpreting complex business and insurance contracts
- Litigated a broad range of disputes to final decisions at the trial and appellate levels
- Frequently negotiated private resolutions of such disputes
Served as a court-appointed master supervising discovery and mediating the settlement of a complex shareholder dispute - Counseled and represented business organizations on a broad range of risk management strategies that do not include litigation
Publications/Presentations
- Massachusetts Bar Association Annual In-House Counsel Conferences (2006-2009); Organizer and Panel Chair leading panels on professional responsibilities of in-house counsel for corporate governance, best practices for internal investigations, corporate risk analysis and risk management, etc.
- Reprinted from MBA and included in course materials for seminar entitled, "How to Identify and Protect Trademarks" in October, 2001, Trademarks, Domain Names and the World Wide Web: The Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act of 1999 and The ICANN Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy
- Reprinted and published as part of course materials for a seminar entitled "Data Privacy in the New Information Age", MCLE, 2001, product #20011904430 on April 12, 2001, "Privacy and Security on the Internet: What Rights, What Remedies?"
- Reprinted and published as part of course materials for a seminar entitled "Data Privacy in the New Information Age", MCLE, 2001, product #20011904430 on April 12, 2001, "Setback for Internet Privacy Class Action Plaintiffs: Double Click Wins First Round"
- "How to Identify and Protect Trademarks" in October, 2001, Trademarks, Domain Names and the World Wide Web: The Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act of 1999 and The ICANN Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy
- "Data Privacy in the New Information Age", MCLE, 2001, product #20011904430 on April 12, 2001, "Privacy and Security on the Internet: What Rights, What Remedies?"
