James H. Tily

Jim Tily is a Salt Lake City attorney with a background spanning federal and state litigation, labor and employment law, criminal defense, and civil matters. He practices independently and handles every case personally.

Raised along Philadelphia's Main Line, Jim graduated from Pennsylvania State University and earned his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. While in law school, he worked in the legal department of the Communications Workers of America, a national labor union in Washington, D.C. He started in the law library and, when Westlaw replaced print subscriptions, moved into legal work: arbitration and mediation, labor and employment litigation in federal court, class action wage and race discrimination cases, sexual harassment, ADA and FMLA matters, unfair labor practice proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board, collective bargaining enforcement, and litigation arising from the 1980 AT&T breakup ordered by Judge Harold Greene.

After Georgetown, Jim joined Anderson & Karrenberg in Salt Lake City, where he focused on pre-trial motion practice in federal and state courts. He worked on significant commercial disputes including matters for Novell, Inc., and participated in the Stenovich shareholder class action — a breach-of-fiduciary-duty case arising from First Security Corporation's merger with Wells Fargo. His civil work included employment discrimination, real property disputes, construction litigation, personal injury, discovery and depositions, demand letters, judgment collection, and business litigation.

Jim served as a public defender in Washington County (St. George), Utah, representing indigent adults and juveniles in state court across the full range of felony and misdemeanor charges, including felony jury trials. After a period in Oregon coaching competitive tennis, he returned to Salt Lake City and now runs his own practice.

His current practice covers criminal defense — felonies, DUIs, misdemeanors, sex crimes, domestic violence, and protective orders — in state courts throughout Salt Lake, Davis, Weber, Utah (Provo), and Juab counties, as well as civil litigation including defamation, breach of contract, landlord-tenant disputes, divorce (including flat fee uncontested divorces), child custody, DCFS/APS/CPS proceedings, victim rights representation, civil stalking injunctions, post-judgment relief, and pre-trial motion practice and discovery in federal court. Jim has extensive actual courtroom experience and has appeared before nearly every judge in Salt Lake County and surrounding counties. He gives personal attention to every case — telephone calls and emails are returned the same day.