James Heideman has an insider’s sense of what works and what doesn’t in the California Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.
James spent nearly 23 years working as a judicial staff attorney at the California Supreme Court and the First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco, where he had a front row seat to observe the inner workings of both courts as he assisted the justices to analyze thousands of appeals and appellate motions. He helped draft hundreds of opinions addressing legal and factual issues on topics spanning the breadth of California law, including unfair competition, class actions, arbitration, antitrust, anti-SLAPP, insurance coverage, contract law, and administrative law, among many others.
His expertise extends to an in-depth knowledge of writs in the California appellate courts.
In addition to his work on appeals, James spent many years as a writ attorney for the California Court of Appeal handling the intake and processing of writ petitions, which often involved urgent requests for immediate interlocutory relief or a stay of a lower court action. That experience gave him useful insight into distinguishing between the types of petitions most likely to lead to appellate relief and those that are summarily denied. Before joining CALG, James handled writ petitions for all the divisions of the Court of Appeal’s First District, a position that allowed him to work with each of the court’s justices and learn how the different divisions and justices in that court approach and resolve writ petitions.
James handled complex civil cases in private practice before joining the court.
He previously specialized in complex civil cases at large law firms, including the firm now known as Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP. His work primarily focused on motion and appellate practice in areas of the law that included class actions, unfair competition, antitrust, and insurance coverage.
James graduated with distinction from Stanford Law School and served as a member of the Law Review.
He received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Harvard College, where he graduated summa cum laude and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
Clerkships
Justice Carol A. Corrigan
- California Supreme Court
Presiding Justice William R. McGuiness
- California Court of Appeal, First District
Law School
Stanford Law School
Bar Admissions
California
New York
U.S. Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit