James A Freeman, Attorney

James A. Freeman, III, or Jim as he is known to his many friends around the country, has been a lawyer since graduating from Vanderbilt University School of Law in 1972.  He received his BA from Vanderbilt in 1969.  He is married with three children and resides in Nashville, Tennessee where, in addition to practicing law, he pursues his interests in antiques, Civil War history, fishing and other areas.  Mr. Freeman was born in Gadsden, Alabama.  He is admitted to practice in the state courts of Tennessee, Federal District courts for the Middle and Western Divisions of Tennessee and has been admitted to practice ProHac Vice in the courts of more than ten other states.

Jim became a major player on the national scene in the 1970’s when, as counsel for a New York Stock Exchange Company, he became involved with high-profile regulatory standards actively at the Federal level and in developing an industry response to the growing products liability insurance and litigation crisis.

Mr. Freeman practiced law for 17 years as head of the Legal Department for a New York Stock Exchange company headquartered in Nashville that made more than 4 million consumer products annually, with sales approaching 1 billion dollars.  Among Jim’s responsibilities, in addition to general corporate work, was nationwide management of the firm’s products liability litigation which was done through a self-insurance program he created and later through a captive insurance company Mr. Freeman founded and ran in the Cayman Islands.

Mr. Freeman entered into private practice in 1989 and became a partner in what grew from a seven-lawyer firm to a 35-attorney law firm with offices in Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga, and Nashville.  He also founded and continues to work through his private consulting company called Litigation Management Specialists, Inc. where he has assisted a number of major national companies in risk analysis, risk avoidance, risk placement, and litigation defense.

In early 2003, Jim left his position as a partner in a large law firm to found James A. Freeman & Associates, P.C., now a four-attorney law firm where he continues his work in the areas or products liability, government regulatory, products safety, and corporate business matters.

Mr. Freeman has appeared as a speaker before numerous organizations and has authored numerous articles on topics ranging from products liability to arbitration mediation; from risk management to litigation management; and from effective warnings to witness preparation.