ABOUT MY LAW PRACTICE
Capabilities
- Business Formation & Start-up
- Corporate Governance
- Business Continuity/Estate Planning
- Mergers & Acquisitions
- Securities Regulations & Compliance
- Non-Profit Organization, Governance, and Fundraising
- Real Estate (purchase/sale, leasing, development)
- Business Contracts
- Human Resources and Employment
- Advertising and Regulatory Compliance
- Data Privacy & Protection
- Anti-Money Laundering Compliance
- Litigation Management & Discovery
- Family Office management
- Trust Administration and Fiduciary Services
- Music & Entertainment law
- Public Relations & Crisis Management
- Business and Technical Writing
- Spanish Language Translation
Business-Minded and Broad Experience
Jim is an entrepreneurial and business-minded attorney, with a broad range of business, legal and life experience that is uncommon in eastern Idaho. Over 25 years, Jim has served at the highest levels of state government, worked for one of the world’s largest law firms, clerked for a well-respected Judge on the federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, served as a Federal prosecutor, and worked in the c-suite as General counsel for three significant companies based in Idaho, including General Counsel & General Manager of the Family Office of one of Idaho’s wealthiest families, Chief Legal Officer for a multi-national, network marketing nutrition company, and now General Counsel to a fast growing and disruptive start-up in the precious metals industry.
My Focus
Business Start-Ups
Jim's practice has evolved with a particular focus on start-ups, organic expansion, strategic acquisitions and dispositions, and business continuity. Whether formation, operation, or governance, Jim can help with all aspects of starting a business including structuring the entity, compliance, and shareholder agreements. When it comes time to sell the business, Jim can help clients conduct due diligence, negotiate sale terms, and ensure the transaction meets regulatory requirements and protections for both buyer and seller.
Outside General Counsel for Small Business
In his private practice, Jim leverages his c-level experience to also provide "outside general counsel" services to small businesses and entrepreneurs who can't yet afford full-time in house counsel. He has represented dozens of small businesses, start-ups, and families needing strategic and general legal support, including business continuity and estate planning. He also has experience helping clients with both simple and complex real estate transactions, including assisting with development, finance, leasing, and permitting, including land use planning/zoning. He can also help clients protect confidential and proprietary businesses interests in relation to intellectual property, trade secrets, non-circumvention, non-compete, and non-solicitation covenants, and vendor contracts. He also helps clients avoid or resolve disputes, mitigate risk, and when a fight is inevitable, to manage litigation and discovery processes and manage litigation costs to help the bottom line.
Regulatory Compliance
In addition to day-to-day support, as businesses grow and expand, Jim can help them comply with increasingly complex legal and regulatory frameworks. In addition to state and local licensing, Jim helps clients navigate consumer protection laws, including data privacy, federal ROSCA and state auto-renewal laws, FTC advertising regulations; and FDA rules governing permissible product claims. He also has experience helping businesses comply with their obligations under Federal TCPA, CAN-SPAM, FCPA and OFAC laws and regulations, federal and state securities laws, and anti-pyramid and network marketing compliance.
Family Office and Fiduciary Services
Jim has unique experience helping uber wealthy families make and manage investments, administer complex estate plans, and plan for business continuity and wealth transfer to the next generation.
As the former General Counsel and General Manager of a major single-Family Office in Idaho, Jim oversaw more than a billion dollars in assets under management. Portfolio assets included private aircraft, a regional construction company, real estate development companies, significant land holdings, a market-leading media company, title insurance companies, a hospitality company, and one of nation’s largest purebred and commercial cattle ranches.
Jim has been responsible for the P&L and budgets for significant investment and business activities, and understands both the legal and practical sides of asset management. Jim has
- Directly supervised the management staff and oversaw administration of more than 100 employees;
- Acted as a fiduciary, administering various trusts as part of a complex and sophisticated estate plan;
- Provided legal and strategic counsel for the management company’s legal department, building a legal department from the ground up and directly handling diverse and complex business transactions, and negotiating and drafting critical contracts;
- Drafted and implemented core employment and operational policies and worked to implement evolving training programs; and
- Administered a family-run, private, 501(c)(3) foundation, including annual tax and regulatory reporting and compliance, as well as grant administration.
Non-Profits and Public Charter Schools
Jim has experience helping clients start and/or manage non-profits. With a passion for school choice, Jim has helped start 2 non-profit corporations operating as public charter schools and provided legal counsel to others. His efforts have ranged from formation, charter approval, securing facilities (financing, construction, and leasing), fundraising, regulatory compliance, and budgeting. Jim has also been intimately involved in organizing and/or advising several private, 501(c)(3) family foundations and public charities supporting causes including helping single and widowed mothers or victims of abuse, supporting children in medical crises, art education, and scholarship programs, museums, and construction efforts to build schools, water systems, and provide other resources for native populations in southern Mexico and other impoverished countries. His role was first as a legal advisor but also to help establish grant application and administrative processes and developing partnerships with other civic and charitable organizations to expand the reach of intended charitable activities.
Political Advocacy
Sometimes businesses need the help of political leaders to resolve problems or inequities in regulatory matters. Jim's clients benefit from his prior experience and relationships when its time to navigate regulatory processes with executive agencies or contact legislative leaders for help. Jim can also facilitate the engagement of political consultants or registered lobbyists, when needed, and help build coalitions of similarly situated or interested parties to resolve issues or effect change.
My Experience
Family Farm Work Ethic
Jim is the product of a small family farm in southern Idaho. He grew up picking rock, tending cattle, and digging ditch. He is also the son of a journeyman meat cutter and retired school teacher. At an early age, he learned to work hard and to value the hard work of others.
Big Law Experience
Jim was an associate attorney at the Dallas office of Jones Day, a major international law firm. There, he represented public companies and their directors and officers in shareholder litigation and SEC enforcement investigations. He gained valuable experience in complex multi-jurisdictional business litigation, multiparty contract disputes, and other commercial litigation in state and federal court. He also worked on matters involving the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), including representing a Corporate Monitor appointed by the U.S. Department of Justice. Jim worked alongside some of the best attorneys in the world on cases that were high profile, high pressure, and high stakes.
Federal Prosecutor
Jim was selected by the U.S. Attorney for Idaho for a one-year appointment as a Special Assistant United States Attorney, where he worked closely with FBI, DEA, ATF and Secret Service agents, as well as state and local law enforcement to prosecute federal crimes. He managed a heavy caseload involving violent crimes, firearms and drug trafficking, child exploitation, and gang activity. With daily courtroom and criminal trial practice, Jim successfully secured criminal indictments in 45 cases, securing federal convictions for some of Idaho's most dangerous. During the year, he participated in 3 criminal jury trials, and was lead counsel in one successful trial, securing the conviction of a felon in possession of ammunition, in connection with a high-profile murder case in Indian Country.
9th Circuit Law Clerk
Jim served as a federal judicial law clerk to Judge N. Randy Smith on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. As an appellate law clerk, he helped the court decide important cases, researching and helping to write dozens of bench memoranda and appellate opinions. Appellate matters ranged from complex criminal drug cases, immigration, tax fraud, tribal sovereignty, and environmental protection, to novel 1st Amendment cases.
Home Town Attorney and City Prosecutor
During his final year of law school, Jim served as an associate attorney and contract city prosecutor under a limited license in his home town. He represented local dairies, trucking companies, and individuals in land use, workers compensation, and estate planning matters. He also prosecuted hundreds of misdemeanor cases, ranging from minor traffic offenses, DUI and drug offenses, and child protection cases. He was in court on a near daily basis, participating in several misdemeanor trials.
Governor's Office
Both before and during law school, Jim served as a Special Assistant and Speech Writer to Dirk Kempthorne, then governor of Idaho, until Kempthorne's appointment as U.S. Secretary of the Interior under then President George W. Bush. During that time, Jim assisted the Governor on policy matters involving natural resources, agriculture, military affairs, Hispanic affairs, and Native American relations and wrote hundreds of speeches, briefing memoranda, and talking points, including 6 televised State of the State addresses.
Education
J. REUBEN CLARK LAW SCHOOL (2006)
Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, Order of the Coif
• Activities: Lead Articles Editor, BYU Law Review; A. Sherman Christensen American Inn of Court; 1st Year Moot Court Competition Finalist; Natural Resource Law Society;
• Honors: Hugh B. Brown Barristers Award (selected by faculty for academic excellence and preparedness); J. Reuben Clark Award (selected by faculty for academic excellence and service)
UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO (2000)
B.G.S / Minors in Spanish and Computer Science
Majority of coursework in civil engineering, mathematics, computer science, and Spanish
• Activities: Elected Student Body President; Member of Idaho NCAA Steering Committee; Co-Chair of the University Recreation Center Task Force; Idaho Statewide Engineering Advisory Committee; ASUI Student Senate; Student Issues Board; Phi Delta Theta Fraternity
• Honors: College of Engineering Dean’s List; Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society; Alumni Award for Excellence; ASUI Outstanding Senior Award; ASUI Distinguished Service Award; State of Idaho Scholarship; Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship; McDonnell Douglas Scholarship; Nike/Rocky Mountain PGA Scholarship
Other Honors
• Leaders In The Law Recognition, In House Counsel, Idaho Business Review (2013)
• Idaho Governor’s Challenge Medal, For Outstanding Public Service (2003)
• U.S. Presidential Scholar Award, Awarded in Washington D.C. by President Clinton (1994)
Bar Admissions
• Idaho State Bar (2006)
• Texas State Bar (2007)
• U.S. Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit (2008)
Work History
General Counsel
Executive Director / General Counsel
Private Practice
7k Metals, LLC (Idaho Falls, ID)
• Provide strategic and general legal counsel for precious metal dealer offering physical bullion and modern collectible coins
• Oversee anti-money laundering, data privacy, and direct selling/advertising compliance programs
Private Practice
Executive Director / General Counsel
Private Practice
Dalton Law (Idaho Falls, ID)
• Outside general counsel to small business clients
• Provide general legal counsel to private clients regarding business formation, real estate and land use planning, private equity, contract law, employment law, and business continuity planning
Executive Director / General Counsel
Executive Director / General Counsel
Executive Director / General Counsel
American Heritage Charter School
• Advise Board of Directors on legal, financial, compliance, and business operations for a non-profit, public charter school
• Provide operational support to business office, including budgeting, financial reporting, and regulatory compliance
Chief Legal Officer
Vice President & General Counsel
Executive Director / General Counsel
Kyäni, Inc. (Idaho Falls, ID)
• Chief Legal Officer to multi-national, health & wellness company in highly regulated industry
• Oversaw global legal and compliance programs in 50+ countries
Special Assistant U.S. Attorney
Vice President & General Counsel
Vice President & General Counsel
U.S. Attorneys’ Office (Pocatello, ID)
• One-year appointment to prosecute federal drug and gun crimes arising in the District of Idaho
• Managed heavy criminal caseload involving violent crimes, firearms and drug offenses, child exploitation, and gang activity
Vice President & General Counsel
Vice President & General Counsel
Vice President & General Counsel
Riverbend Family Office (Idaho Falls, ID)
• Managed family office with more than a billion dollars in assets under management
• Provided general legal and strategic counsel for corporate, employment, mergers & acquisitions, private equity/investment, real estate and water law, commercial contracts, estate planning & administration
Associate Attorney
Associate Attorney
Associate Attorney
Jones Day (Dallas, TX)
• Represented Fortune 50 public companies in securities and shareholder litigation and SEC enforcement actions, Foreign Corrupt Practices Acts, and complex multi-jurisdictional business litigation
Judicial Law Clerk
Associate Attorney
Associate Attorney
U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit
(The Hon. N. Randy Smith)
Speech Writer
Associate Attorney
Speech Writer
Idaho Governor's Office
(The Hon. Dirk Kempthorne)
Other Experience
Contract Prosecutor, Williams, Meservy & Lothspeich, Jerome, ID
Judicial Extern, Snake River Basin Adjudication, Twin Falls, ID
Paralegal Specialist, United States Navy, Washington, D.C.
Lobbyist, ASUI, University of Idaho, Boise, ID
Engineer’s Aid/Surveyor, Idaho Transportation Dept., Shoshone, ID
Draftsman and Laborer, Westec Construction, Jerome, ID
Farm Worker, Dalton Family Farm, Jerome, ID
Sample Representations
