James L.Curtis

Since 1990, Jim has represented clients from coast to coast in a wide array of industries, including construction, automotive, agricultural, manufacturing, transportation, warehouse, and retail in both federal OSHA cases and in State Plan States. Jim has significant experience defending clients under every OSHA standard as well as high dollar willful and repeat OSHA citations. This experience gives him insight into workplace safety issues, and better enables him to assist his clients. Through the lens of this experience, he analyzes the size and scope of the client and the potential legal liability at issue to counsel and guide them appropriately—from having counsel on-site during a fatality investigation to providing in office backup advice during run-of-the-mill regulatory investigations.

Because Jim has practiced in the OSHA space for so long, he is well versed in all of the OSHA regulations as well as the various nuances in the OSHA Regional offices and State Plan States.

Jim is also co-chair of Seyfarth's Whistleblower Retaliation team assisting clients in responding to whistleblower retaliation under the 23 Federal whistleblower laws and parallel state laws. Jim is able to efficiently and economically assist clients in managing the potential legal liability from workplace whistleblowers and is adept at disposing of whistleblower cases at the administrative stage.

Jim also understands that clients face a number of challenges whenever a serious workplace accident or fatality occurs, including an OSHA investigation with potential citations and fines, media attention, employee stress and guilt, as well as simple inexperience in how to handle the many moving parts in the wake of a workplace tragedy. He works with clients to address their OSHA and whistleblower challenges in an efficient, effective manner that leads to positive results.

"I love that I am part of one of the largest and most well trained OSHA practice groups in the nation. We provide a level of understanding and analysis that is simply not available at most law firms."