James C. Sturdevant, the principal of The Sturdevant Law Firm, is one of the nation’s most respected consumer rights and class action attorneys. He was named 2004 Trial Lawyer of the Year by the Consumer Attorneys of California, 2002 Trial Lawyer of the Year by the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association, and has received numerous other awards for his outstanding advocacy on behalf of consumers and workers. Mr. Sturdevant specializes in representing plaintiffs in class actions involving consumer protection, financial and insurance fraud, employment discrimination and a wide variety of unlawful, unfair and fraudulent business practice cases. During his forty-plus year career, he has represented plaintiffs and plaintiff classes in cases involving federal and state benefit rights, housing, employment discrimination, institutional conditions at prisons, jails, and mental institutions, school desegregation, consumer protection, and binding, mandatory arbitration clauses. He has tried and settled many multi-million dollar class action cases and is known as well for his appellate advocacy.
Mr. Sturdevant serves on numerous national, state and local boards and committees concerned with civil litigation and amicus curiae work, and he and his firm have authored a significant number of briefs and amicus briefs on the issues of mandatory arbitration, federal preemption, the interpretation of consumer protection statutes and attorneys fees, among others
Education
- Trinity College (B.A., 1969)
- Boston College School of Law (J.D., 1972)
Admissions & Courts
- California State Bar
- Connecticut State Bar
- U.S. District Court, Central District of California
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California
- U.S. District Court, Northern District of California
- U.S. District Court, Southern District of California
- U.S. District Court, District of Connecticut
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second, Fourth and Ninth Circuits
- Supreme Court of the United States
Professional Associations and Memberships
- Board (1993 – 2006)
- President (2003 – 2004)
- Board (2011 – 2013)
- Board (2006 – 2013)
- Board (1998 – 2006)
- Executive Committee (2004 – 2005)
- Board (1998 – 2005)
- Executive Committee (1997 – 2005)
- President (2001 – 2001)
- Board (1993 – 1999)
- Board (2008 – present)
- Board (2013 – present)
- Board (2007 – present)