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Awards and Recognition

• Presented with the 2013 Russell V. Kohr Memorial Award for Excellence in Planned Giving by the Chicago Council on Planned Giving
• Listed in the 2020 edition of Chambers® USA: America’s Leading Business Lawyers in the practice area of Private Wealth Law
• Selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® in the fields of Non-Profit/Charities Law (2007, 2010-2023) and Trusts and Estates (2005, 2010-2023)
• Named the 2017 Non-Profit/Charities Law “Lawyer of the Year” in Chicago
• Selected for inclusion in the Illinois Super Lawyers® lists (2005-2023) for his estate planning and probate work*
• Recipient of the Dennis F. Kelly Award from Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago for outstanding service to the mission of Catholic Charities (2017)

Affiliations

• American College of Trust and Estate Counsel
• American Bar Association (Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Section and Section of Taxation)
• Chicago Bar Association (Probate Practice Committee and Trust Law Committee), former chair of the Probate Practice Committee
• Chicago Estate Planning Council
• Chicago Council on Planned Giving

Community Involvement

• Advisory board member, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago
  • Chair of the Planned Giving Subcommittee
• Member, WTTW-Channel 11 Public Television
  • Planned Giving Advisory Committee
• Member, Lincoln Park Zoo
  • Professional Advisory Committee
• Member, The Salvation Army
  • Planned Giving Advisory Council

Presentations and Publications

James is a frequent speaker and has lectured before many professional and lay groups, including the following:

• University of Southern California Institute on Federal Taxation
• Notre Dame Tax & Estate Planning Institute
• Northwestern University Estate Planning Advisory Council Symposium
• Estate Planning Council of Greater Miami
• Central Arizona Estate Planning Council
• Chicago Estate Planning Council
• Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education
• Chicago Bar Association
• Council for the Advancement and Support of Education
• National Society of Fundraising Executives
• Chicago Council on Planned Giving
• Suburban Chicago Planned Giving Council
• American Bar Association’s Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law

James is author and co-author of chapters, books, and articles, including:

• Chapter 14, “Charitable Litigation,” in Litigating Disputed Estates, Trusts, Guardianships, and Charitable Bequests (Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education Practice Book 2012)
• “Charitable Giving and the Generation-Skipping Tax,” 130 Trusts & Estates No. 5, 34 (May 1991)
• “Sophisticated Charitable Giving: Techniques and Problems,” 41 Major Tax Planning 1100 (Matthew Bender & Company, Inc. 1989)
• “Temporary Regulations Help to Answer Some Questions,” 128 Trusts & Estates No. 2, 55 (February 1989)
• The New Generation-Skipping Tax: Analysis, Planning and Drafting (Northwestern University 1987)
• “A New Set of Complexities,” 126 Trusts & Estates Nos. 3 & 4, 8 & 10 (March & April 1987)
• “Strategies to Use While Awaiting Possible Repeal of the Generation-Skipping Tax,” 125 Trusts & Estates No. 2, 42 (February 1986)
• “An Overall Look at Planned Giving Options,” 16 Fund Raising Management No. 12 74 (February 1986)
• “Coping With the Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax,” 69 Illinois Bar Journal 166 & 228 (1980); 16 ABA’s Law Notes 103 (1980); 5 Oklahoma Bar Journal 2510, 2829 & 3093 (1981)

*The Illinois Supreme Court does not recognize certifications of specialties in the practice of law and no award or recognition is a requirement to practice law in Illinois.