Since 1982 James's practice has been concentrated in the defense of matters pertaining to medical and professional liability, motor vehicle liability, premises liability, and products liability. He is certified as a Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy and has tried a considerable number of cases to conclusion before juries. Among the multitude of matters that James has handled are attorney malpractice cases, broker malpractice cases, medical malpractice cases as well as hospitals and hotels.
In 1967 James graduated from the United States Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point. Following graduation he served as a Deck Officer in the United States Merchant Marine, eventually obtaining a Chief Mate's license. Thereafter, James attended law school at the College of William and Mary where he received his Juris Doctor degree in 1973. He served as an Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney in Portsmouth, Virginia, for two years, where he headed up the felony section. Thereafter, he was a Trial Attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.
When not busy with his law practice, James provides time to the Waverly Community House, Waverly, Pennsylvania, a unique not-for-profit organization with a mission to enhance the lives of individuals and families in the region by fostering educational, recreational and cultural opportunities.
Significant Representative Matters
Successfully argued on behalf of a company supplying temporary workers that the company to whom the worker was sent was responsible for that worker's safety, not the temp agency.
Successfully defended a wrongful death action, in which plaintiff's decedent was decapitated when a boat she was riding in passed under a bridge, by persuading the jury that my client was not the cause of the accident.
Successfully defended a products liability case involving a scaffolding manufacturer in a case in which the crank on a self-raising scaffold counter-rotated, striking plaintiff in the head and causing him serious injury, by persuading the jury that the design was not defective.
Successfully defended a local hospital in a ostensible agency case where it was alleged that the pediatrician had failed to timely diagnose hip dysplasia, thus requiring the minor plaintiff to undergo extensive surgery in her teen years at the Du Pont Institute, by persuading the jury that the pediatrician was not the hospital's ostensible agent.
Successfully defended a gastroenterologist in a case alleging that a procedure he performed (an ERCP procedure) caused plaintiff severe pancreatitis, by persuading the jury that pancreatitis was a known side effect of the procedure and that she had given her informed consent to the procedure.
Successfully defended family physician in a case alleging that he had over-prescribed medication, causing severe scarring of a young woman's legs, by persuading the jury that her scarring was caused by her own failure to follow the doctor's instructions.
