Overview
James A. Plaisted has decades of experience as a criminal defense attorney, civil litigator and prosecutor. He has argued successfully before the United States Supreme Court, the New Jersey Supreme Court, and other appellate courts in New York and New Jersey, and has handled more than 40 appeals to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.
Jim was part of a team of Pashman Stein attorneys, together with co-counsel, that was named as a finalist for the 2021 Trial Lawyer of the Year award by the Public Justice Foundation, a non-profit organization headquartered in Washington. The recognition of the firm and co-counsel was for the work procuring a settlement of up to $25 million in favor of a statewide class of inmates and their families in an action against a prison technology company, and its subsidiaries, regarding overcharged inmate calling services.
Jim has defended numerous corporate officers in federal and state cases involving tax allegations, securities allegations, bank misapplication, environmental offenses and fraud charges. He has handled civil and criminal Clean Water Act and other environmental cases in both federal and state courts for one of the world's largest publicly traded energy providers, international shipping companies, and other corporations. Several major pharmaceutical and health care companies have utilized Jim to represent various officers and sales agents, including former presidents, in Food and Drug Administration-related matters.
Jim has served as chief of the Fraud and Public Protection Division at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey, as president of Rutgers University Law School’s Willard Heckel Inn of Court, and as a master and chairman of its Program Committee. He has also been a lecturer in civil and criminal trial advocacy for the U.S. Justice Department Advocacy Institute. Jim is recognized by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Certified Civil and Criminal Trial Lawyer.
Jim is proud of the results he has achieved for clients, some of which are noted here and under the “Experience” section of this biography. Of course, each legal matter is unique on many levels, and past successes are not a guarantee of results in any other pending or future matters.
Bar Admissions
- New York
- New Jersey
Court Admissions
- U.S. Supreme Court
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit
- Various Federal District Courts
Education
B.A., Ohio Wesleyan University, 1969
J.D., Washington University Law School, 1972
Comments Editor, Washington University Law Review, Order of the Coif