James Erik Breitenbucher

Jim Breitenbucher focuses his civil trial practice on complex commercial and real estate disputes.  Jim also litigates non-compete, trade secret, product liability and wildfire lawsuits, and takes particular pride in handling cases that involve complex technical issues.  Beyond the Pacific Northwest’s courtrooms, Jim’s first two decades of practice have found him successfully defending a $500 million shareholder derivative action during a four-week trial in New York City; challenging fines issued by the Department of Financial Institutions before an administrative law judge in Olympia, Washington; and pursing a commercial claim before an arbitration panel in Milan, Italy.  Jim’s primary objective, however, is to resolve cases before trial, and he has obtained summary judgment while representing clients as both plaintiffs and defendants in state and federal courts in Washington and throughout the United States. 

Jim originally joined Riddell Williams in 1999, after serving a two-year clerkship for the Honorable Faye C. Kennedy of the Washington Court of Appeals.  He practiced with Schulte Roth & Zabel in New York City from 2003 until rejoining Riddell Williams in 2007.

Jim received his J.D., Order of the Coif, from Washington University School of Law, where he was a Scholar in Law, received the Honor Scholar Award and served as an editor on law review.  Jim has a B.A. in Economics from the University of Washington.