ATTORNEY PROFILE

Jim is considered by his clients, colleagues, and the judiciary as one of the region’s most elite trial lawyers. For over 30 years, he has devoted the entirety of his practice to high-exposure litigation. As a co-founder of Neville, Richards & Wuller, LLC, Jim has tried and won jury trials throughout Central and Southern Illinois and Eastern Missouri. His trial and appellate record, experience, and reputation have earned him an AV rating*, the highest rating awarded to lawyers and law firms by the Martindale-Hubbell peer review rating process. He has been inducted into select organizations including Leading Lawyers, Super Lawyers, and the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). Jim is particularly honored to have been inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, the preeminent trial lawyer honor society in the United States and Canada. He served as President of the Missouri-Southern Illinois Chapter of ABOTA, a national trial lawyer honor organization devoted to preserving the jury system in American civil courts. Jim chairs and presents for numerous Continuing Legal Education programs and frequently lectures to medical and legal organizations throughout the state.

Beyond his family and law firm, Jim keeps busy with his eleven grandchildren. He enjoys boating on the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers in his free time. Jim is a second degree Black Belt in Okinawan Karate.

* AV Pre-eminent and BB Distinguished are certification marks of Reed Elsever Properties, Inc., used in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards and policies. Martindale-Hubbell is the facilitator of a peer review rating process. Ratings reflect the confidential opinions of members of the Bar and the judiciary.  Martindale-Hubbell ratings fall in two categories—legal ability and general ethical standards.

AREAS OF PRACTICE

99% of Practice Devoted to Litigation

Personal Injury Defense

Medical Malpractice and Professional Liability Claims

Toxic Tort

General and Auto Insurance Defense

Products Liability

Transportation Defense Litigation

HONORS AND AWARDS

Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers

American Board of Trial Advocates, Rank of Advocate, President Missouri - Southern Illinois Chapter, 2010

Recognized as an Illinois Leading Lawyer, (Leading Lawyers Network, 2003-present):  Medical Malpractice Defense; Personal Injury Defense (General); Products Liability Defense; Toxic Torts Defense

Board Member of Illinois Leading Lawyers’ Network

Recognized as a Leading Civil Defense Lawyer by Chicago Lawyer Magazine (2007 to present)

Recognized as a Super Lawyer in Illinois by the Super Lawyers (2010 to present)

PUBLISHED WORKS

The Bystander's Right Under Strict Liability Does Exist: A Call for Reform of the Restatement

(Co-Author), 25 St. Louis University Law Journal 543, 1981

1991 Evidence Update

(Co-Author), Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel 12th Annual Seminar, September, 1991

1997 Evidence Update

(Co-Author), Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel 18th Annual Seminar, September, 1997

Illinois Supreme Court Limits Application of Medical Malpractice Statute of Repose

(Contributing Editor), Illinois Defense Counsel Quarterly, 2nd Quarter, 1993

ASSOCIATIONS AND MEMBERSHIPS

Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers

American Board of Trial Advocates, President Missouri-Southern Illinois Chapter, 2011

Illinois State Bar Association

St. Clair County Bar Association

The Missouri Bar

Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis

Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel

Missouri Organization of Defense Lawyers

BAR ADMISSION AND EDUCATION

BAR ADMISSIONS

Illinois

Missouri

EDUCATION

Saint Louis University School of Law, St. Louis, Missouri, J.D.

St. Louis University, B.S.

INSTRUCTION

Co-Chairman, Rookie Seminar, Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel

NEVILLE, RICHARDS & WULLER, LLC

PREMIER CIVIL LITIGATION DEFENSE

CENTRAL & SOUTHERN ILLINOIS, EASTERN MISSOURI