Jim was born January 24, 1958 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. He attended Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, before earning a BA degree in Political Science from the University of Kentucky in 1980 and a JD degree from the University of Kentucky College of Law in 1983.

Following his admission to the bar, Jim practiced law in Lexington and Central Kentucky for more than 20 years in a family law firm with a general trial and appellate civil practice in the areas of civil rights and discrimination, personal injury and negligence, as well as corporate and business, oil & gas, administrative practice, real estate, and wills and probate. He joined a predecessor firm to Irvin Rigsby PLC in December 2005, and continued his practice in the areas of general corporate and business, employment, and discrimination, but began focusing on the representation of business clients in the healthcare and railroad industries, including trial and appellate practice involving medical negligence and wrongful death, personal injury, and railroad crossing and FELA claims. He has experience in civil litigation at all stages of the litigation process in both the state and federal court systems.

Jim is admitted to practice before the courts of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, the United States District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Kentucky, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He is a member of the Fayette County, Jessamine County, and Kentucky Bar Associations and is also a member of the National Association of Railroad Trial Counsel.