The Civil Litigation offering features content by renowned author, litigator, educator and lecturer James M. Wagstaffe, the premier industry expert and authority on pretrial federal civil procedure.
Jim is partner and co-founder of Wagstaffe, von Loewenfeldt, Busch & Radwick. He maintains a diverse litigation practice, including complex litigation, professional and governmental representation, will and trust disputes, legal ethics, First Amendment cases and appeals in state and federal courts. Clients frequently retain Jim for high-stakes legal matters, and he has particular expertise on virtual world issues, including electronic discovery and Wi-Fi technology. In 2017, California Lawyer named him Attorney of the Year for his successful representation of The State Bar of California in a high-profile privacy trial.
Jim has authored and co-authored a number of publications, including The Wagstaffe Group® Practice Guide: Federal Civil Procedure Before Trial. As one of the nation’s top authorities on federal civil procedure, Jim has helped shape the direction and development of federal law. For more than 30 years, he has developed and delivered various annual forums, seminars, webinars, and workshop sessions intended to educate federal judges and their clerk staffs on federal law. In 2016, Jim presented a one-hour “live” web broadcast seminar on the topic of New Rules in Gatekeeping: Jurisdiction and Venue to more than 1,200 federal judges participating in an online broadcast.
Jim currently serves as the chair of the Federal Judicial Center Foundation Board, a position to which he was appointed by the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Jim is an adjunct professor of constitutional law and civil procedure at UC Hastings College of the Law, as well as of media law at San Francisco State University.
Jim launched The Wagstaffe Group in 2016 to provide practicing litigators with groundbreaking tools and resources to tackle the complexities of civil procedure. The Wagstaffe Group’s authors include a highly experienced and talented array of federal judges and law clerks, law firm managing partners, honored trial and appellate attorneys and longtime writers of litigation practice guides.