Jim is a graduate of Yale University and the University of California Berkeley School of Law. Board Certified as a specialist in both Criminal and Family Law, Jim is Martindale-Hubbell rated AV and listed in Super Lawyers since 2007.  Jim has been president of multiple bar associations, has appeared personally for oral argument three times in the California Supreme Court, and has handled to completion the defense of over 30 death penalty cases.  He has lectured and written statewide before many lawyer and mental health groups on subjects including domestic violence, crimes against children, and collaborative divorce.  He is a founder and past president of A Better Divorce, President-Elect of LACFLA (Los Angeles Collaborative Family Law Association) and has handled to completion over 100 collaborative divorce cases.