James focuses on complex commercial litigation, including contract disputes, business torts, and class actions.
James’ practice covers all phases of litigation, including pre-filing investigation and negotiation, discovery, motion practice, trial, and appeal. He has worked with clients in a wide array of industries, including networking, telecommunications, energy, sports and entertainment, financial services, information technology, and manufacturing.
Prior to joining Benesch, James was an extern to Chief Judge Joy Flowers Conti of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania where he honed his legal research and writing skills.
Representative Experience
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Defeated class certification and prevailed on Daubert arguments dismissing the opinions of class plaintiffs’ damages and consumer survey experts, successfully arguing on behalf of telehealth company that plaintiffs' claims involved too many individualized questions regarding injury and damages, rendering class treatment inappropriate.
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Defended manufacturing corporation in breach-of-contract action brought by former vendor claiming over $2 million in damages. Served as first chair for a multi-day arbitration and secured a full defense verdict.
- Represented Fortune 100 technology company in trade secrets lawsuit involving enterprise collaboration software brought by former potential vendor seeking in excess of $50 million dollars in damages. Helped obtain favorable settlement for a fraction of that amount on the eve of trial.
- Obtained summary judgment for publicly traded critical infrastructure company in $100 million trade secrets lawsuit brought by former vendor.
- Successfully secured a full defense award for a Fortune 100 technology company in arbitration stemming from a breach of contract claim seeking damages in excess of $1 million.
- Defended Fortune 500 company in eight-figure contract dispute through a three-week arbitration hearing related to a major Superfund project
