Law School: University of Detroit School of Law, J.D., 1976.  Executive Editor, University of Detroit School of Law 1975-76. Clarence M. Burton and Presidential Scholarships.

College: University of Michigan, A.B. with distinction, History and Political Science,1973.
 

Biography: Law Clerk, Hon Wendell A. Miles, U.S. District Judge for the Western District of Michigan, 1976-78;  Attorney, Ford Motor Company, Local Litigation Group, 1978-84; Senior Attorney, Ford Motor Company, Local Litigation Group, 1984-95; James C. Curtiss, PLC, Private Practice in Livonia and Plymouth, Michigan, 1995-2005.  Michigan Manufacturers Association Lawyers Committee, Vice Chair, 1990-91, Chair, 1991-92. Member of State Bar of Michigan Labor and Employment Law Section, 1978- present.

Jim Curtiss is an experienced trial and appellate lawyer representing both plaintiffs and defendants in business and employment matters in Michigan state and federal courts. He has handled complex major cases involving automotive supplier contracts, construction project issues, trade secrets, sales commissions, employee benefits, sexual harassment ,and labor and employment matters. He is also expert in virtually all aspects of employment law, and  regularly advises clients on employment issues that have not progressed to litigation. He appears regularly in the appellate courts and before state and federal administrative agencies.

Immediately prior to joining Borda, Lorenz & Geggie, Jim Curtiss was in private practice in Livonia and Plymouth, Michigan, representing clients in employment cases that often attracted significant media attention. He brings to his practice 16 years experience in Ford Motor Company’s Local Litigation Group where he represented Ford directly in court in a variety of cases including  employment class actions, antitrust, commercial bribery, construction, and trade secrets cases. At Ford he was also appellate counsel in a number of significant cases in the Michigan Court of Appeals and the Sixth Circuit. His appellate experience prompted Ford to appoint him as its representative to the Michigan Manufacturers Association Lawyers Committee, which filed friend of the court appellate briefs on behalf of the interests of employers and manufacturers. He assisted in the organization of the Lawyers Committee, contributed on several appellate briefs in important cases, and served as Chair from 1991-92.