James I. Ham

James I. Ham is the founder of The Law Office of James I. Ham. Ham represents attorneys in State Bar proceedings, which are confidential prior to the filing of formal charges and require client consent to disclose. In his earlier days, he worked with

attorneys who emphasized involvement in State Bar activities.

"I looked at different committees and the ethics committee seemed interesting," Ham said. "The committee had engaging and smart people, and the issues were challenging. As I continued to practice law, I was involved in securities litigation and represented lawyers and accountants, where professional negligence was often an issue. I became the 'go-to' source for all things legal ethics, such as conflicts of interest, disqualification issues and other attorney-client issues."

One notable published opinion is In the Matter of Isola, where the State Bar aggressively and unreasonably demanded disbarment of Mr. Isola. The case was appealed and Isola received what was tantamount to a total victory, receiving only a 30-day actual suspension, which was less than had been offered in settlement.

In the past several years, Ham has successfully represented attorneys convicted of crimes and has regularly obtained results for the clients substantially better than the demands made by the State Bar prosecutor's office.

"It is always a significant challenge to face government prosecutors with overly aggressive, unreasonable positions when those prosecutors demonstrate poor judgment and an inability to understand and apply relevant case law," he said.

Ham said one of the trends in the field that needs to be addressed is "Continuing attacks on lawyers by the legislature based on 'Girardi' type problems, which are not problems caused by lawyers, but rather, by incompetence, corruption and cronyism at the State Bar of California."