James was graduated with honors from Providence College with a B.A. in Political Science in 1982 and from Ohio Northern University with a J.D. in 1985. He was admitted to the Rhode Island Bar in 1985, the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island in 1986, the United States Army Court of Military Review in 1986, the Massachusetts Bar in 1995 and the Unites States Supreme Court in 2009. He is the Managing Partner of the Workers’ Compensation Practice Group. His practice is focused on the defense of employers and insurers in the Rhode Island Workers’ Compensation Court and before the United States Department of Labor for claims brought under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act. He is a member of the Rhode Island Workers’ Compensation Bench Bar Committee and the American Law Firm Association’s Workers’ Compensation Practice Group’s Steering Committee.
James joined HCC as an Associate in 1985. He resigned from the firm in 1986 to accept a Reserve Commission in the Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps, where he served on active duty from 1986-1989 as a Military Magistrate, Trial Counsel and Claims Judge Advocate. He rejoined the firm in 1989 and continued his military service in the Rhode Island Army National Guard where he served as Brigade Judge Advocate, was selected as the state’s first certified Military Judge and then was promoted to Colonel and named the State Judge Advocate, a position he held until his retirement in 2007.
