Overview
Prior Experience
Before joining Faegre Drinker, James clerked for Justice Mark S. Massa of the Indiana Supreme Court and for Chief Judge Tanya Walton Pratt of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. While clerking, James assisted on all manner of employment matters, including cases involving the Eleventh and Fourteenth Amendments, Title VII, the ADA, the ADEA and numerous other federal and state laws governing employer-employee relationships.
Prior to starting his legal career, James taught high school humanities for two years in San Antonio as a Teach For America corps member and for three years in Indianapolis in schools serving adults and older youth who had not yet received their diplomas.
Personal Interests
In his spare time, James enjoys spending time with his wife and two young children.
Related Legal Services
Credentials
Bar Admissions
Indiana
Court Admissions
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana
Clerkships
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Hon. Tanya Walton Pratt, 2020-2021
Indiana Supreme Court, Hon. Mark S. Massa, 2018-2020
Education
Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law
J.D. magna cum laude, Indiana Law Review (executive notes editor) (2018)
University of Missouri
B.A. in Political Science and Sociology, with honors (2011)
Insights & Events
Leadership & Community
Pro Bono
- IU McKinney Pro Bono Program bronze recognition, 2018
Professional Associations
- Indiana State Bar Association
- Indianapolis Bar Association
- McKinney-Shepard Indianapolis Inn of Court — Associate, 2017-present
Civic Activities
- Conner Prairie — Horizon Council, 2024-present
- Goodwill of Central & Southern Indiana — Young Leaders Board, 2018-23
- Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana — Big Brother, 2014-19
Honors
- Faegre Drinker — Pro Bono Honor Roll, 2022-23
- University of Missouri — Dean’s List (all semesters); Mark Twain Non-Resident Scholarship (partial tuition academic scholarship), 2007-11
- IU McKinney School of Law — Dean’s List (all semesters); Resident Excellence Award (full tuition academic scholarship); George O. Dix Award (best thesis submitted by a graduating law student); Papke Prize (best student note chosen for publication in the Indiana Law Review); Moot Court Society (Assistant Chief Justice of Problem Writing & CLE; Order of the Barristers), 2015-18
- Indiana State Bar Association — Leadership Development Academy, Class 9