Jim is a partner of the Firm. He is a trial lawyer with over 15 years’ experience representing individuals, companies and fiduciaries in probate administration and litigation matters, commercial disputes and real estate cases.

Jim leads our Probate Litigation and Administration team. In these emotionally charged and frequently contentious cases, Jim always takes the time to listen and understand the family dynamics. He is adept at diffusing disputes, often finding a solution while limiting the time and expense of court intervention.

Matters highlighting the breadth and depth of Jim’s practice include:

  • Successful defense of personal representative in a will contest, where the court upheld client’s interpretation of decedent’s will that part of estate passed by intestacy.
  • Representation of parents to obtain guardianship and conservatorship of their adult daughter who was suffering from severe psychosis and delusions, so that they were able to get their daughter the medical care she needed, resulting in a dramatic turnaround in her mental health.
  • Successful defense of an internet reseller against claims by a national manufacturer alleging improper resale of their goods.
  • Successful representation of abutters in Massachusetts Land Court preventing the development of adjacent wetlands.

Before becoming an attorney, Jim was a self-employed carpenter. He combines the skillful precision and attention to detail acquired in the workshop and lumberyard with the lessons he learned as a small business owner to help his clients solve their legal problems effectively. Jim is an inventor too. He obtained an international patent for a yard waste holding product that he designed in 2012. He brings this inventiveness and curiosity to his legal work. In 2018, Jim was recognized by his peers in Massachusetts Super Lawyers® as a Rising Star for his work for Estate and Trust Litigation clients.

Jim is admitted to practice in all Massachusetts state courts. He graduated from Northeastern University School of Law and received his bachelor’s degree in English from Colgate University. While he was a law student, Jim clerked for the Massachusetts Trial Court.

He is a past director and chair of the business education committee of the Beverly Chamber of Commerce. Jim is a member of the Boston Bar Association and ProVisors.

Jim lives in Hamilton, Mass., with his wife, Jacquelyn, and four children. He is happily retired from coaching youth sports and is a past president of the Hamilton-Wenham Touchdown Club, the booster club for the high school football team. He enjoys playing basketball in a men’s league and hiking with his family, with whom he is working on hiking the 48 4,000-footers in New Hampshire.