About Becky James
Experience You Can Trust
Becky S. James is a highly accomplished attorney with extensive experience in criminal defense and civil and criminal appeals. She is admitted to practice in Texas, California, and numerous federal courts, and is also a Certified Appellate Specialist in California. In 2010, she founded James & Associates, focusing on white collar criminal defense and appeals.
Her career spans several significant roles. She began her career as a law clerk for the Honorable Pamela Ann Rymer on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and then as an associate at O'Melveny & Myers. Becky then served as Assistant United States Attorney in the Central District of California for 13 years, where she led the Criminal Appeals Section, supervising over 500 appeals annually. Entering private practice, Becky built on her government experience and focused on criminal defense and appeals, working at major law firms and then opening her own firm. She went on to serve as the founding Chief Public Defender for the Atascosa Area Advocates Public Defender's Office, where she built and managed a team serving four rural counties, before returning to her own firm. Currently, she also serves Of Counsel with Waymaker LLP on significant white collar matters, as well as Employer Advocates Group on labor and employment matters.
Becky holds a J.D. from Stanford Law School and an A.B. from Stanford University. She has taught White Collar Crime and Appellate Advocacy at Pepperdine and Loyola Law Schools and is recognized for her contributions to the legal community, including being named one of the top white collar lawyers by the Los Angeles/San Francisco Daily Journal in 2021. She is also recognized as a Super Lawyer.
Professional Activities & Recognition
- Top White Collar Lawyers 2021, Los Angeles/San Francisco Daily Journal
- Lawyer Representative to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference
- Indigent Defense Panel - selection committee, Central District of California
- Conference of Delegates of California Bar Associations
- Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles, past board member
- Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, San Antonio Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, San Antonio Bar Association, Bexar County Women's Bar
- American Bar Association - Criminal Justice Section, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Federal Bar Association
Presentations & Publications
- “Potholes on the Compliance Highway: What Companies Need to Know About the New Rules for Disclosures, ESG, and Whistleblowers,” Dykema Litigation Institute webinar (May 2022)
- “Staying Ahead of the New U.S. Anti-Corruption Strategy,” Anti-Corruption Report (Mar. 2022)
- “Dykema’s Annual SCOTUS Review and Preview,” Dykema Litigation Institute webinar (Sept. 2021)
- “OT20: It’s a Wrap,” Los Angeles Daily Journal (July 2021) (with Jimmy Azadian)
- “The ‘Third Chair’ at Trial: The Value of Embedded Appellate Counsel and the Top 5 Appellate Hacks for Trial Attorneys,” Dykema webinar (June 2021)
- “The Court of Public Opinion – Enter at Your Own Peril,” Los Angeles Daily News, and numerous other publications (Nov. 2017)
- “Painful Prescriptions,” Los Angeles Lawyer (Feb. 2013) (with Kathryn Lohmeyer, cover story)