Jim is a 3rd generation Oregonian, raised on a farm north of Salem, Oregon. He attended North Salem High School and graduated with honors from Harvard College in 1967. After obtaining his bachelor’s degree, he spent two and a half years working in the Peace Corps with small farmers in central Africa. Returning to his native Oregon, Jim worked his way through law school in Portland at Northwestern School of Law (Lewis & Clark) and began his legal career in 1975 as a staff attorney with Legal Aid. After a six month bicycle trip in Europe and northern Africa, he served as staff co-counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee in Salem. He then spent two years with the Metro Public Defender’s office in Portland gaining valuable and extensive jury trial experience. Jim started his own firm in 1981, and joined forces with Mark Griffin in 1988.