Details About Attorney Jim Ham

Jim Ham’s practice focuses on California legal ethics and attorney regulation, defense of State Bar complaints and disciplinary proceedings, bar applicant issues, and expert testimony in the field of lawyer conduct and the standard of care.  His services include advising lawyers and law firms on matters involving legal ethics and attorney regulation, and representation of respondent attorneys in State Bar investigations and California State Bar Court disciplinary hearings.  Jim has handled thousands of State Bar investigations and inquiries, and has tried to decision and through appeal numerous California State Bar Court cases.

Jim spent 25 years handling complex civil litigation in California state and federal courts.  Twenty of those years were spent as an equity partner in a major national law firm and boutique Los Angeles litigation practice.  While representing clients in complex civil litigation, he also assisted attorneys and law firm management with legal ethics, attorney regulation and professional responsibility matters, legal malpractice claims, State Bar investigations and bar admission issues.  Today, Jim’s practice is focused on state-wide representation of attorney clients in matters involving legal ethics, professional responsibility, attorney discipline and malpractice.  He writes and speaks frequently on matters of interest to the legal profession.

Jim served as a Member of the Special Commission for the Revision of the Rules of Professional Conduct of the State Bar of California.  The Commission was tasked with reviewing and updating California’s Rules of Professional Conduct for attorneys.  The Commission’s recommendations were substantially adopted by the California Supreme Court in November 2018, resulting in California’s new Rules of Professional Conduct.

He is also a long-time member, and twice chair, of the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Professional Responsibility and Ethics Committee, and active with the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers and the Association of Discipline Defense Counsel.

Jim was a Lecturer at Law at the University of Southern California’s Gould School of Law, where he taught a course on the legal profession and legal ethics.  He served on Law360’s Legal Ethics Editorial Advisory Board and served on the Board of California Indian Legal Services, a non-profit legal services organization, where he served on various Committees, including its Executive and Finance Committees.  Mr. Ham currently serves as a member of the Board of the Friends of the Los Angeles County Law Library.

He is admitted to practice law in California and Texas and is a member of the Bars of the United States Supreme Court, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal and the United States District Courts for the Northern, Central, Southern and Eastern Districts of California.

Jim regularly writes and speaks on legal ethics topics at MCLE programs and legal conferences.  Jim has given presentations to, among others, the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers, the Consumer Attorneys of California, the California Lawyers Association, the Los Angeles County Bar Association, the Association of Business Trial Lawyers (ABTL), The National Association of Bar Counsel (“NOBC”), the Media Law Resource Center, and the Beverly Hills, Pasadena, San Fernando, South Bay, San Bernardino, Ventura, Antelope Valley, Tulare County and Santa Clarita Bar Associations.

Jim writes frequently on legal issues and trends in Linked-In.  You can follow Jim at www.linkedin.com/in/jimhamlegalethics

Jim’s complete Curriculum Vitae is here.