James represents developers zoning, land use, and development applications, in both Philadelphia and the suburbs. He also handles a wide range of transactional and litigation matters, including commercial and residential transactions, negotiation and drafting of agreements, and real estate tax assessment appeals. Additionally, James has experience representing several municipalities in zoning matters, code enforcement litigation, and related work.
Prior to joining Cozen O'Connor, James was an associate at Pennsylvania-based law firms, in both Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, where he practiced zoning, real estate, and municipal law. He also gained experience in banking, public finance, tax, and commercial real estate financing. On the litigation side, James has significant trial and arbitration experience, including jury trials, in title disputes, zoning appeals, premises liability, boundary disputes, and landlord-tenant matters. Most recently, he served as underwriting counsel for a national title insurer. Earlier in his career, James owned a real estate closing company focused on assisting first-time homebuyers.
James earned his J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where he was an associate editor of the JURIST, and his B.A., cum laude, from the University of Pittsburgh, and was a member of the U.S. Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC).