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James M. Loots
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James M. Loots
The Law Offices of James M. Loots PC
634 G Street SE
Suite 200
Washington, DC 20003
Phone: (202) 536-5650 | Fax: (202) 315-3515
http://www.lootslaw.com
Your Small Business Resource
Legal Topic
Business Law
Preferred New Clients
Small businesses, primarily franchisees, hospitality (restaurant and lodging), retail and service industries. I provide a broad range of services, including commercial leasing, business organization, employment advice and advocacy, commercial collections, litigation and alternative dispute resolution.
Sub-Categories
Business Law
- Mediation/Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)
- Commercial Leasing
- Venture Capital
- Liquor Licenses
- Business Successions
- Buying & Selling
- Closely Held Businesses
- Corporations
- Franchising
- Joint Ventures
- Limited Liability Companies (LLCs)
- Partnerships
- Professional Corporations
- Breach of Contract
- Contract Disputes
- Contract Drafting & Review
- Employment Contracts
- Franchises
- Non-Compete Contracts
- Creditor's Rights
Bar Admissions
MD, Jun 2006
DC, Dec 1984
Bar Number: 384763
Other Court Admissions
District of Columbia Court of Appeals, Maryland Court of Appeals, United States District Court for Maryland, United States District Court for the District of Columbia, United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, Court of Federal Claims, United States Tax Court, United States Supreme Court.
Association Memberships
District of Columbia Bar, Maryland State Bar Association, Phi Alpha Delta, Capitol Hill Association of Merchants and Professionals.
Continuing Education
I pride myself in keeping abreast of new legislation and cases affecting my clients, particularly with respect to the ever-changing landscape of employment law (and its accompanying bevy of landmines and hidden trapdoors). I frequently teach current-education seminars to other lawyers and to business managers, and am a regular participant in webcasts reaching an audience of thousands.
Papers and Publications
I have been featured and quoted on emerging employment law issues on CNN, Fox News, the Washington Times, Mode Magazine, and the syndicated Nation's Business Today. I am also the author of a recurring column on legal employment issues in Restaurant Digest and a frequent contributor to various trade publications.
Example Cases
Schutter v. Herskowitz, 2:07-cv-03823-DS (USDC EDPA) (jury verdict for Plaintiff)
Tally Ho Consignments, Inc v. House Hold, Inc. 2005 CA 2730 (DC Superior)(bench trial verdict for Defendant)
Sarete, Inc. v. U1334 Street Ltd. Partnership, 2000 CA 006345 (DC Superior)(damages trial on remand from Court of Appeals, $3.00 awarded to Plaintiff)
Education
Degree:
Juris Doctor
School:
University of Michigan Law School
City:
Ann Arbor
State:
MI
Year:
1984
Honors:
Cum Laude
Focus and Accomplishments:
Editorial Board, Michigan Law Review
Degree:
BSJ
School:
Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism
City:
Evanston
State:
IL
Year:
1980
Honors:
Dean's List, graduated with honors
Number of Attorneys
1
State Licensed In
District of Columbia (1984) and Maryland (2006)
Firm Focus and History
The primary focus of my representation is small business clients, including working individuals, who require assistance in managing the everyday and extra-ordinary legal issues they encounter. I have specialized experience representing businesses in the hospitality (restaurant and lodging) and employment services (payroll and staffing) industries, and represent a number of trade associations in their litigation, regulatory, leasing, organization and employment needs. As the former Chair of the D.C. Commission on Human Rights and as an experienced representative of employers in employment disputes, I also devote a large portion of my practice to counseling and training managers on employment issues, and to resolving employment disputes for clients of all sizes and industries.
Previous Employment Summary
I began my career as an associate with a major New York law firm, where I gained invaluable experience and made a lot of money. To quote my good friend and mentor of the time: "If you are going to sell out, at least sell out to the highest bidder." Since 1992, I have devoted my efforts to representation of small business and individuals, leading a series of incarnations of a law firm that had my name on the door and up to a dozen other attorneys working for me and with me. Several years ago, I came to the realization that the firm of "Me, Myself and I," enabled by technology and informed by decades of practice and experience, could cost-effectively serve my clients in the best manner possible. It also helps that we never fight about partner compensation structures, although there is occasional dispute as to whether or not a particular client is quite right in the head.
Activities and Awards
Martindale-Hubbell "AV" Rated; Past Chair, D.C. Commission on Human Rights; D.C. Bar Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year; Former Adjunct Instructor, American University Washington College of Law; Mayor's Task Force on Small Business Regulation; Executive Committee, Board of Directors, Washington Legal Counsel for the Elderly; Executive Committee, Board of Directors, Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts; Board of Directors, Capitol Hill Association of Merchants and Professionals; Board of Directors, Capitol Hill Arts Workshop; Member, Washington Lawyer's Committee of the Shakespeare Theatre, Lawyer's Committee of the Washington Performing Arts Society.
What is your opinion regarding clients educating themselves on legal issues?
Generally speaking, the more a client knows about the legal issues affecting his or her case, the better that client will understand the pros and cons of settling, litigating, and evaluating that case. The key to making any knowledge of legal issues valuable, though, is the ability to apply that knowledge of the law to the facts of each case and, invariably, each case is different. With respect to general business operations (as opposed to litigation), I spend a great deal of time and effort helping clients to understand and comply with their regulatory and other legal obligations, developing sound employment practices and employee handbooks, assuring proper licensing and registration with proper authorities, and ensuring that contracts with landlords or vendors are sound, enforceable, and make good business sense.
Are you willing to review documents prepared by clients?
My clients know their businesses better than I ever will, although I do take some pride in spending the time necessary to understand and appreciate their specific needs, challenges and strengths. I much prefer a client to come to me with a strong sense of what he or she wants to accomplish, whether it is manifested in a terms sheet for a transaction, a partially-negotiated contract, or just some ideas scribbled on the back of a menu. I can take the ideas and draft comments and turn them into a legally binding document that will best protect my clients' interests. But it's not my money and not my business at stake. So the more work the client wishes to provide thinking about and negotiating a transaction or contract before coming to me, the more cost-effective it will be for me to do my part of the job.
Are you willing to coach clients who want to represent themselves?
I am reminded of the quote of Gomez Addams in the motion picture adaptation of The Addams Family (1991): "They say that a man who represents himself in court has a fool for a client. And with God as my witness, I am that fool!"
That said, I often lead educational seminars and legal compliance training programs where the goal and focus is client education and self-help advocacy. Part of every initial consultation is an evaluation of whether any lawyer is needed to address the situation, whether it is yet time to hire a lawyer, and if so, am I the right lawyer for the task at hand. Quite often, I send clients away with a mission to try to resolve their disputes without engaging legal counsel, and only to come back if they have failed or been challenged in court. I serve not so much as a coach as a scout or pre-game analyst. I would never counsel a client to represent itself in litigation; nor do I ever wish for an opposing party to be pro se. The nuance and secret handshake society of the law is - for better or worse - far too laden with traps for the unwary. An experienced litigator always proves a good investment, be it me or someone else.
Why did you decide to be a lawyer?
Temporary insanity. I also (mistakenly) thought it would improve my social life.
What work experience and education helps you be a better lawyer?
Over the years, I have participated on the board of directors of a number of organizations, for-profit and not-for-profit, and have dealt with hundreds of small businesses in various phases of their inception, growth and (sometimes) demise. Whenever I sit down to write a contract or negotiate a transaction, I am guided by the knowledge and observation of all those cases and controversies that have come before - of what might go wrong down the road and how to guard against it. When something does go wrong and I have to draft a complaint or respond to a lawsuit, that same experience allows me to see what reasonable solutions might be forecast, and to gauge the validity and strengths of my clients' positions.
Why did you decide on your primary area of practice?
Working for Fortune 500 companies certainly pays well, but I truly prefer representing smaller businesses where the decision makers are directly affected by every legal issue they encounter and the clients with whom I deal have a personal stake in the outcome of our projects. With respect to the employment practices focus of my practice, everyone who has employees will have employee legal problems, and I like to be in a position where I can help avoid and manage those problems through advance planning, early intervention, and prompt effective defense when needed.
What do you like best about your career?
It is a genuine pleasure to sit down for dinner at a client's newly-opened restaurant, or see my client's name on a delivery truck going down the street. I share in their birth pains, their adolescent growth and challenges, and often their maturity and transition to the next generation. While I always maintain professional objectivity and distance, in many ways my clients and their businesses do become like an extended family to me (except they don't often send me fruitcakes at Christmas).
Tell us about your law firm:
As a sole practitioner, I have both ultimate authority and ultimate responsibility for every decision that is made, for every word that is written, and for every act that is taken. I do affiliate with other experienced attorneys where appropriate, if for instance there is need to represent a client in a jurisdiction where I am not admitted or there is a particular subject matter expertise (such as tax law) where my knowledge is not as strong. I also have a small cadre of more junior attorneys and paralegals upon whom I can call to staff larger cases in more cost-effective and efficient manner. My general billing philosophy is that clients should be paying me to think and write, not make copies and deliver briefs, so if there is a document-intensive piece of litigation or time-consuming regulatory process where a contractor can work under my direct supervision, I don't hesitate to utilize those resources as well.
What are your strengths and style?
I try to take the time to learn about each client's business, its unique needs and its key people, so that when problems do arise, I can advise them from an informed and sensitive perspective, proposing solutions and responses that make sense not just from a legal perspective, but also in the reality of the clients' business needs.
Sometimes disputes need to be fought out in the courtroom, but often a philosophy of early intervention and quick response can avert the costly and time-consuming process of dispute resolution. I try to keep my clients attuned to risk areas and potential disputes before they become too great, and to ensure their business practices and policies are defensible in the event we are called upon to so do in court.
I can be tough if I have to, but have found over the years that most legal problems are borne of misunderstanding and misinterpretation, not malice or greed. They are no less in need of resolution, but can often be solved through reasonable dialogue and solid logic better than undirected passion and fury. I view part of my role as advocate to be an ability to judge and properly dispense the appropriate mix of these elements in any business dispute.
Personal Interests:
Classical and jazz music, travel, fine dining, travel, history, more travel.
Fax
(202) 315-3515
Office Hours
Monday through Friday
9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. or by appointment.
Emergency after hours for established clients with pressing needs only.
Emergency After Hours
Yes
Fixed-Price Services and Fees
Certain transactional projects, such as new business formations, commercial lease preparation, and commercial collections, are billed at a flat fee. All litigation and most specialty projects are billed at an hourly rate, subject to caps and flat fees for certain projects or phases of projects.
Hourly Rates
$310, subject to caps and flat fees for certain projects or phases of projects.
Free Initial Consultation?
An initial consultation is $250, applied against first bill for services if engaged as counsel.
Typical Retainer
Estimated first-month billing or $2,500, whichever is less.
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Attorneys have passed a licensing check. Nolo has confirmed that every member attorney has a valid license and is in good standing with the applicable bar associations upon joining the directory.
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