Monday, April 5, 2010
Page 3
Paul Hastings Associate James Gilliam Moves to ACLU
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Los Angeles attorney James Gilliam is slated to begin his new position as a deputy executive director for the ACLU of Southern California and the ACLU Foundation of Southern California today.
A former associate at Paul Hastings Janofsky Walker, Gilliam has served on the foundation’s board for several years, and praised the group for its commitment to “many of the same civil rights and civil liberties issues important to me” in an e-mail last Wednesday to friends and colleagues regarding his move.
At his old firm, which he left Friday, Gilliam represented clients in a variety of complex civil litigation contexts before federal and state courts, including securities litigation and SEC investigations.
He also participated in Paul Hastings’ pro bono efforts, serving on the Pro Bono and Community Committee as the associate pro bono coordinator for the firm’s Los Angeles, Milan, Frankfurt, and Hong Kong offices.
Gilliam graduated summa cum laude, first in his class, from Middle Tennessee State University in 2000. He was admitted to the Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society and was chosen as Most Outstanding Initiate for the Golden Key National Honor Society.
He then graduated cum laude, Order of the Coif, from Loyola Law School in 2003, and was admitted to practice that same year.
During law school, Gilliam clerked for Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Harry Pregerson, served as chief symposia editor of the Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review and chaired Loyola’s Public Interest Law Foundation.
The attorney is a member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, heading the group’s Sexual Orientation Bias Committee and last year’s delegation to California’s Conference of Delegates of County Bar Associations.
Gilliam is also a member of the American Bar Association and the National LGBT Bar Association, for whom he also serves on the Board of Directors.
He recently returned to his alma mater as an adjunct professor, where he alternates teaching a public interest law practice seminar, appellate advocacy, and a seminar on sexual orientation and the law.
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