Seymour W James, Jr.

Serving clients at Barket Epstein Kearon Aldea & LoTurco, LLP, in Garden City, New York, Seymour W. James Jr. is a seasoned criminal defense and civil rights attorney. With over five decades of experience in the field, he has handled wrongful convictions and other civil rights litigation encompassing excessive force and police misconduct. Currently a partner at the firm, he previously served as attorney-in-chief for The Legal Aid Society in New York City. 

Graduating from Brown University with a bachelor’s degree in economics, Mr. James pursued his legal studies at Boston University School of Law. He gained his license to practice law in New York in 1975 after earning his Juris Doctor. Starting off as a staff attorney at The Legal Aid Society, he held various supervisory positions in the organization in the following years. He is further admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. District Court for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York. 

Outside his extensive practice, Mr. James is an active member of the legal fraternity, holding memberships and leadership positions in several organizations. He previously served on the Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary and the Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defense of the American Bar Association. He also worked on the New York State (NYS) Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government, the Chief Judge’s Justice Task Force, the New York state Governor’s Clemency Advisory Panel and the Second Department Judicial Screening Committee, among many other government committees. 

For his efforts in the legal profession and his achievements, Mr. James received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the New York Law Journal. He is also a recipient of the Robert L. Haig Award by the New York State Bar Association Commercial and Federal Litigation Section and the Public Servant of the Year by the Metropolitan Black Bar Association.