Noles, James L.

JIM NOLES' practice is devoted exclusively to issues of environmental law, regulation, and litigation in Alabama. Working out of the firm's Birmingham office, his practice focuses on such matters and topics as landfill permitting and regulation, wetlands regulation and associated Section 404 permitting, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (a.k.a., CERCLA or "Superfund"), endangered species, the redevelopment of brownfields, environmental justice, and other aspects of environmental law related to real estate, construction, industrial development, and corporate transactions. In recognition of his work in these areas, Jim's peers selected him for inclusion in the 2011 edition of The Best Lawyers in America.

In addition to the foregoing areas of expertise, Jim has also carved out a niche both within Balch & Bingham and within Alabama's legal community with respect to legal issues associated with the regulation and protection of historical and cultural resources. He possesses particular expertise regarding the federal National Historic Preservation Act ("NHPA") and the procedures associated with Section 106, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, and the regulatory processes and requirements of the Alabama Historical Commission and various federal agencies.

Beyond the firm, Jim has taught courses at the University of Alabama at Birmingham on the law of historical and cultural resources in the school's anthropology department as an adjunct professor. He has also served as an adjunct professor at the University of Alabama's School of Law.

Jim's other civic and community activities include chairing the Board of Directors of the Alabama Humanities Foundation. He also serves on the Boards of Directors of the Alabama Bench and Bar Historical Society and the Kiwanis Club of Birmingham. He also coordinates the Birmingham Bar Association's Young Lawyer Section Veterans Oral History Project (an official partner of the Library of Congress), serves on the Birmingham Bar Association's Scholarship Committee, serves on the University of Alabama at Birmingham English Department Advisory Committee, and was one of the initial founding trustees of the Birmingham-Jefferson County History Museum. In 2005, he was named by the Birmingham Business Journal as one of the city's "Top 40 Under 40."