A native Texan with a splash of California, Jim earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Southern California, School of Business in 1988 with an emphasis in real estate/finance. He received his Juris Doctorate degree from Whittier College School of Law in Costa Mesa, California in 1992, where he was awarded the American Board of Trial Advocates for Moot Court and Trial Advocacy. After law school, Jim returned to Houston where he became a shareholder in a Houston based litigation law firm. In early 2000, Jim opened a Houston office for a Louisiana based litigation law firm while simultaneously becoming General Counsel to a Houston based pipeline company via the Smith Law Firm.

In early 2007, Jim consolidated his legal representation into the Smith Law Firm and over the next few years he joined forces with former partners to create Smith Adams Law Feehan LLP. Jim’s law practice has an emphasis in business litigation, commercial and real estate transactions, product liability, environmental/pollution, toxic tort, and insurance defense. Licensed to practice law in the state of Texas, Jim is admitted before the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and all U.S. Federal District Courts in Texas. He is a member of the U.S. Supreme Court Bar and the State Bar of Texas, as well as the Defense Research Institute, American Bar Association and Houston Bar Association. As a way to give back to the community, Jim has volunteered his time as an attorney for the Harris County Child Protective Services, the Houston Volunteer Lawyers Association and as a Board member for the Krist Samaritan Center in Houston, Texas.