Phone: (816) 460-1839
Jim is a member of the firm’s Litigation, Surety, and Fidelity team where he helps clients with business disputes and investigates and litigates claims for fidelity and surety providers. His work includes asset tracing, overseeing and coordinating discovery efforts, and interfacing with state and federal authorities for sunshine law and Freedom of Information Act requests.
A successful litigator, Jim has secured favorable dispositive motion outcomes on behalf of numerous clients. He is actively involved in the Kansas City legal community and has served on several boards including The Jackson County Law Library, Kansas City Lesbian, Gay and Allied Lawyers, and The Clinic, a deportation defense non-profit.
Before becoming a lawyer, Jim worked as a Spanish language interpreter for the U.S. Departments of State and Justice.
Successfully argued at the Missouri Court of Appeals, securing a win on a client’s appeal.
Won life-saving relief for a client under the UN Convention against Torture – granted to less than 3% of petitioners.
Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, since 2014
LGBTQ Bar Association of Greater Kansas City, since 2013
American Bar Association, Fidelity and Surety Law Committee
“Guardian and Conservator Bond Case Management: Best Practices,” Fidelity and Surety Law Committee Newsletter, The American Bar Association, Fall 2017″
Multilingual Best Practices,” Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, 2017
Kansas and Missouri, with Lawrence Lerner, Surety Underwriters Deskbook, 2017
Verdicts, with the Hon. John R. O’Malley, Chapter 43, Missouri Bar Civil Benchbook
Building Accord between Museums and Tribes: NAGPRA in Practice, 2 UMKC L. Rev. De Jure 67, 2014
“Redefining Marriage in the 21st Century: Constitutional Law and Famous Cases,” UMKC Graduate Art History Association, 2014
“Same-Sex Marriage and Judicial Independence,” with Former Iowa Supreme Court Justices Marsha Ternus and Michael Streit, UMKC Law, 2013
“Using Professional Court Interpreters, Mitigating Risk in a Multilingual Legal Setting,” Missouri Bar Association CLE, 2010
“Writing Ethics about Interpreting,” National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators, Annual Conference, 2009
“Fraud with 21st Century Documents,” ABA Fidelity and Surety Law Committee, with David Spielbauer, November 2022
J.D., University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law, Kansas City, Missouri, 2014
CALI Award – International Business Transactions
Appellate Practice Clinic
Diplôme d’université, Université de Reims, Champagne-Ardenne, Reims, France, 2012
Valedictorian
M.A., Conference Interpreting, Monterey Institute of International Studies,
Monterey, California, 2009
B.A. with distinction, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, 2002
Diversity & Inclusion Award, 2018
Up & Coming Attorney Award, Missouri Lawyers Media, 2018
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Missouri, 2017
U.S. District Court, Western District of Missouri, 2016
U.S. District Court, District of Kansas, 2016
Missouri, 2015
Kansas, 2015
North Carolina, 2020