Jim Pianelli is Board Certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in the area of Personal Injury Trial Law. Additionally, Jim Pianelli is Board Certified by the Texas Board of Legal of Legal Specialization in Civil Trial Law. |
"Pursue on great decisive aim with force and determination" |
Jim is a trial attorney specializing in complex civil actions, commercial litigation and personal injury. He is a graduate of Syracuse University College of Law and was awarded an advanced Master of Laws degree from New York University. Jim is board certified in the areas of Civil Trial Law and Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and a member of the American Board of Trial Advocacy. Jim has extensive litigation experience over the past 40 years.
Jim is an Army veteran and served in the Judge Advocate General's Corps for over a decade with assignments that included a faculty position at West Point. He has been recognized by many varied professional organizations for outstanding service to include the Texas Bar Foundation. Jim was recognized in 2003 in Texas Monthly, a Thompson Reuters Service as one of the Super Lawyers of Texas. In 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2018 H Houston Magazine selected Jim as one of "Houston's Top Lawyers." He is a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum. He is consistently rated the top peer review "AV rating" by Martaindale Hubble. Jim served on the Board of Directors to one of the nation's largest Better Business Bureaus and served on the Board of Directors of Preferred Bank from 2006 to 2016 and as the President of the Woodway Pines Homeowners Association from 2010 to 2014.
Jim is a frequent lecturer and author, particularly on topics related to litigation and civil trial law.
EDUCATION
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW, L.L.M., 1984
SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF LAW, JD, 1978
STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK, COLLEGE AT PLATTSBURGH, BA, 1975
Magna Cum Laude
PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS, ACTIVITIES AND HONORS
Board Certified, Texas Board of Legal Specialization
- Personal Injury Trial Law
- Civil Trial Law
ABOTA - Associate
State Bar of New York, 1979 - present
State Bar of Texas, 1989 - present
United States Supreme Court, 1984 - present
US District Court for the Southern District of Texas
Houston Medical Legal Society, 1989 - 1996
Fee Disputes Committee, Houston Bar Association 1992-1993
State Bar of Texas Grievance Committee Panel Chair (4H) 1995-1999
Director, Greater Houston Better Business Bureau 2004-2005
Director, Houston Trial Lawyers Association
Fellow, Texas Bar Foundation
President, Hilshire Grove Community Improvement Assn. 1992, 1999-2001
Founder, Emory Sneeden Trial Center, Hanau, Germany 5/89
Honor Graduate - Airborne Training Class 29-84, Fort Benning, Georgia
Meritorious Service Medal (3)
Army Commendation Medal
Army Achievement Medal
Army Service Ribbon
Overseas Service Ribbon
Department of Political Science, 1975 Honor Graduate - SUNY Plattsburgh
Assistant Professor, Criminal Law Division, The Judge Advocate General's School, Charlottesville, VA as an Individual Mobilization Designee, 1989-1998
Assistant Professor, USMA, 1981 - 1984
US Army Armor Center, Instructor, 1979 - 1981
Adjunct Professor, Big Bend Community College, European Division, 1985 - 1989
SAMPLE OF ARTICLES AND PUBLICATIONS
Jim has written numerous Speeches and Publications. His Publications appear in journals such as; New England Journal of Medicine, North Carolina Medical Journal and The Texas Evidence Reporter.
"It Will Take More Than Notebooks to Stop Fraud,"
Dr. Kimon Angelides and James V. Pianelli, Nature, 3 December 1998, page. 404
"Pediatricians Beware! The Need for Early Recognition and Action in Spousal Abuse,"
Robert F Perry, MD, James V Pianelli, JD, LLM and Heidi Long, MSII, North Carolina Medical Journal, May/June 1996, Vol. 57, no 3, page 1
Commentary, Robert F Perry, MD, Andrew P Garlisi, MD and James V Pianelli, Pediatric Emergency Care, February 1996, Vol. 12, no 1, page 71
"The Malpractice Mess,"
New England Journal of Medicine, commentary, April 28, 1994, Volume 330, Number 17
"Exploiting Opportunities in Opening Statements,"
for presentation by the State Bar of Texas Continuing Legal Education Course: Choosing and Courting a Jury, 1994
"Innovative Discovery Techniques, The Discovery Plan," Texas Evidence Reporter, 10 Tex Evid Rep 2 (1993)
"Corporate Acquisitions and Employee Benefit Plans: Fiduciary Obligations under ERISA"*
"The Indigent and the Criminal Process: Limited Right to Expert Services at Public Expense"*
"Labor Picketing: Bastardized Free Expression under the First Amendment"*
"The Custodial Requirement of Miranda and Article 31(b), Uniform Code of Military Justice"*
"Rehabilitative Expectations in Army Corrections: The US Army Retraining Brigade"*
"The Offense of Driving While Intoxicated and the Right to Counsel"*
"Judicial Supervision of Pretrial Agreements in the Military"*
* Prepared and Submitted as part of LLM requirements at New York University School of Law
SPEECHES AND PRESENTATIONSAuthor - TTLA, Staying in the Current, Belize, November 3-7, 1999
Faculty - TTLA Trial Advocacy College of Texas, Austin, TX, June 23-26, 1999
Author - TTLA Winning Edge Ski Seminar, Breckenridge, CO., February 3, 1999, "Practice Management Tips: Cost Effective Techniques For Managing Your Office"
Course Director/Moderator - TTLA 5th Annual Paraprofessional Program, December 3, 1998, Houston, Texas
Moderator - TTLA Advanced Personal Injury Seminar, August 20, 1998, Houston, TX
Author/Speaker - TTLA Beat the Heat, Whitefish, Montana, July 16-19, 1998, "Settlement Traps and Lures."
Author/Speaker - TTLA Today’s Lawyer is a Lean, Mean Fighting Machine, Houston, TX "Practical Management Tips," May 8, 1998
Moderator - TTLA Car Wrecks Seminar, Houston, TX, November 14, 1997
Author/Speaker - South TX College of Law, Automobile Injury Litigation Conf. "Getting Ready to Litigate," May 16, 1997
Program Chair - "Law Practice Management", TTLA's CLE Program "The Litigator's Overview: A Practical Guide to a Successful Trial Practice" October 18, 1996
Author/Speaker Program Chair, - March 1996, "Avoiding the Grievance Committee" presented at the Texas Trial Lawyers Association seminars in Houston, Dallas and S Padre Island entitled "The Litigator's Overview, A Practical Guide to a Successful Practice"
Author/Speaker, - April 1995, "Trying the Automobile Injury Case in Texas" presented at the NBI seminar in Houston, Texas
Author/Speaker, - December 16, 1994, "Drafting and Responding to Discovery" & "The Role of the Paralegal in the Deposition Process" presented at the CISI seminar, Texas Civil Litigation Practice for Paralegals, Houston, Texas
Author/Speaker, - December 2, 1994, "The Health Care Witness on Direct" presented at the Advanced Techniques for Witness Examination, Texas Trial Lawyers Association Houston, Texas
Author/Speaker, - November 18, 1994, "The Health Care Witness on Direct" presented at the Advanced Techniques for Witness Examination, Texas Trial Lawyers Association San Antonio, Texas
Speaker - July 22, 1994, "Handling Hard Questions in Voir Dire" presented at TTLA Seminar, Advanced Persuasion Tactics, Arlington, Texas
Speaker - January 20, 1994, "Innovative Discovery Techniques in Premises Cases," Premises Liability Seminar, San Antonio Texas
Author/Speaker - NY Trial Academy, "Using Tort Reform as an advantage in Voir Dire" - Albany, NYC, Rochester and Syracuse, 2006
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