James C Buckley

Attorney

I have been an attorney for over 40 years. Before I became an attorney, I served 3 years in the United States Army with 2 years in the Vietnam War, where I received various medals for bravery. After receiving serious wounds in Vietnam, I was honorably discharged from the Army and the 101st Airborne Division and started my college education at Memphis State University.  As a 21-year-old, I was committed to helping other people after serving in the Vietnam War, so I decided to become an attorney and fight for justice for all who needed my help. 

I am the founder and former owner of Buckley & Associates. However, the current owner of Buckley & Associates is Erica Buckley, who is my daughter. I personally trained and worked with all the attorneys at Buckley & Associates. I enjoyed working with all the clients, attorneys, paralegals, and staff at Buckley & Associates. 

I opened Buckley & Associates in Tacoma in 1983. In 1993, I opened Buckley & Associates’ second office in Seattle. 

My personal emphasis was as a trial lawyer handling serious injuries and wrongful death matters. I was also a prosecutor in Olympia, and a hearing examiner with the Washington State Bar Association. I also serve as an arbitrator for King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties. 

See James Buckley’s entire interview with ReelLawyers

I have been awarded various awards as an attorney, including Super Lawyer; Million Dollar Advocate; BV Distinguished Attorney; Top Attorneys in Washington State; America’s Most Honored Processional Top 10%; Super Lawyer; Circle of Excellence; Top Attorneys in Washington; Who’s Who in Personal Injury Plaintiffs Attorneys: American’s Most Admired Companies; Wall of Tolerance; and Multi-Million Dollar Advocate. Avvo has rated me as a perfect 10 in its attorney rating system.

I am or have been a member of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington; United States District Court for the Western District of Washington; American Association for Justice; American Bar Association; Washington State Association for Justice; Snohomish County Bar Association; Seattle King County Bar Association; National Bar Association; Pierce County Bar Association; United States Court of Appeals For the Ninth Circuit;; Washington State Bar Association; Loren Miller Bar Association; President of the Pierce County Minority Bar Association; International Legal Fraternity of Phi Delta Phi and other legal associations. I was invited to the Inauguration of President Barack H. Obama and am one of the top 100 Litigation Lawyers in the State of Washington, per the American Society of Legal Advocates.

I have personally handled over 5,000 injury and wrongful death cases for clients. I also have personally recovered over $100 million for clients and have supervised and assisted the other attorneys at Buckley & Associates in recovering over an additional $300 million for our clients. A sample of cases I have handled and resolved for clients are:

1. Jury Verdict: $5,101,829

Santosa v DaimlerChrysler

Product Liability Case: Jeep Grand Cherokee v. Pedestrian Accident

Client was a pedestrian struck by a runaway jeep. The client sustained a below the knee leg amputation; fractured leg; hand injuries and scars. The jury determined that the 1993 Jeep Grand Cherokee that struck my client was not reasonably safe due to its design and that the manufacturer DaimlerChrysler was negligent for failing to retrofit the Jeep with a brake transmission shift interlock and in failing to provide adequate warning after the Jeep was manufactured. There were over 500 runaway Jeep Cherokee injury and death incidents nationally and this was the first case tried to a successful jury verdict. DaimlerChrysler’s appeal was rejected by the Court of Appeals and the Washington state Supreme Court; consequently, Buckley & Associates successfully forced DaimlerChrysler to pay the judgment, plus interest, for a net total exceeding $6.4 million. Buckley & Associates thereafter settled other runaway Jeep Cherokee cases for other clients of Buckley & Associates. See “$5.1 million accident judgment” – The Seattle Times Article

2. Settlement of $5 million

Estate of Xu et al v City of Issaquah, et al

Wrongful Death Case: Passenger Vehicle Operator and City Dangerous Crosswalk  v. Pedestrian Accident

According to topverdict.com this settlement was in the top 100 wrongful death settlements in the United States in 2018. The case concerns the death of a 4-year-old child who was killed while crossing a City of Issaquah street in a marked crosswalk. The child was struck and killed when a passenger vehicle came around a curve and did not see the child until it was too late to stop. The City had received complaints that the pedestrian crossing was too dangerous. The passenger vehicle insurer and the child’s parents underinsured motorist insurance carriers paid their $500,000.00 each insurance policy limits, and the City of Issaquah paid $4 million to settle the parents’ wrongful death and loss of consortium claims. 

3. Jury Verdict: $5,398,000.00

According to topverdict.com this jury verdict was one of the top 10 jury verdicts in the state of Washington for 2022.

The case concerns a child who sustained serious injuries when his mother lost control of her vehicle and collided head-on with two other vehicles.