Managing Partner
kalamazoo, Michigan
Phone: 269-342-9900
Fax: 269-342-0280
James Ford has a B.A. from the University of Michigan, and a J.D. magna cum laude from the University of Georgia School of law. From 1968 through 1973 he was an Air Force pilot, flying 65 combat missions as a flight commander in Vietnam. After graduation from law school he spent two years as house counsel for the Upjohn Company handling drug liability cases. Since 1977 he has been in private practice, trying medical malpractice cases and other complex forms of litigation. During his career Mr. Ford has received numerous professional awards, including the Raymond Fox Award for a case that changed how juries are selected in several Michigan counties, and the John N. Vlachos award for appealing a pro bono case to the United States Supreme Court on behalf of a student at Western Michigan University. A transcript of that trial was included in “Bill of Wrongs,” the last book written by Molly Ivins. In 1999 he was selected by Michigan Lawyers Weekly as one of their ten lawyers of the year in the State of Michigan. He is the author of “I Lived in Those Times,” a memoir published by Amazon Books.
Areas of Practice
- 100% Personal Injury Litigation
Litigation Percentage
- 100% of Practice Devoted to Litigation
Bar Admissions
- Michigan, 1976
- U.S. District Court Eastern District of Michigan, 1978
- U.S. District Court Western District of Michigan, 1978
- U.S. District Court Southern District of Michigan, 1978
- U.S. Court of Appeals 6th Circuit, 1982
- U.S. Supreme Court, 1986
Education
- University of Georgia School of Law, Athens, Georgia
- J.D. magna cum laude – 1975
- Honors: Order of the Coif
- University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
- B.A. – 1968
- Major: History
Published Works
- I Lived in Those Times, Amazon Books, 2010
Honors and Awards
- Raymond Fox Award, 1993
- John N. Vlachos Award, 2006
Professional Associations and Memberships
- Michigan Association of Justice, 1977 – 2011
- Kalamazoo County Trial Lawyers, 1980 – 2011
Past Employment Positions
- The Upjohn Company, 1976 – 1977
Pro Bono Activities
- Kalamazoo Legal Outreach Clinics, 1995 – 2011