McGinley, Michael

Jim McDermott is an AV-rated attorney whose practice is primarily devoted to civil litigation with an emphasis on employment and business disputes. To achieve an AV rating, an attorney's peers must rank him at the highest level of professional excellence.

Jim received his law degree from Santa Clara University School of Law in 1997. As a law student, he served as an extern to the Honorable Spencer Williams in the Federal District Court in San Jose, California, where he reviewed handwritten prisoner appeals and conducted research relating to an encryption software patent dispute.

Prior to studying law, Jim traveled through Eastern Europe studying at the Karl Marx University in Leipzig, Germany. He also attended the University of Dallas, where he earned an M.A. in Political Philosophy and the University of California at Berkeley, where he graduated cum laude.

Jim has served as lead trial counsel in jury and bench trials. He also has extensive experience with the American Arbitration Association involving employment and commercial arbitrations. Although Jim enjoys trial and litigation work, he strives to maximize his client's return by providing candid pre-litigation advice regarding employee retention and termination as well as general business and real estate issues.

Outside of work, Jim can be found spending time with his wife and three kids. When he can get away with it, he likes to escape to the Mojave Desert to ride motorcycles or to the Ventura coast to surf and dive.

Noteworthy Matters:

Although Jim routinely represents management on employment issues, he has obtained several substantial awards for plaintiffs in claims against Fortune 100 companies.