Jim Whitehead opened his own law office in Seattle, Washington, on January 1, 2008, after spending more than 32 years in practice in three other Seattle law firms, where he served as a partner or shareholder.  He has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in a wide variety of injury and wrongful death claims, including maritime casualties, motor vehicle accidents, and on-the-job injuries.  In his maritime practice, he has represented numerous marine underwriters, including most of the world’s P&I Clubs, as well as leading seafood processing companies involved in the Alaska fishing industry, and has also represented Jones Act seamen and Alaska processors.  He has also represented domestic insurance companies and many corporations and individuals in a variety of complex motor carrier, construction, and asbestos cases.  He has extensive motion and trial experience in the state and federal courts of Washington and Alaska.  He has also appeared before the Washington Court of Appeals, Washington Supreme Court, and Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.  At the request of other attorneys or their clients, he has also served on numerous occasions as a mediator or arbitrator in substantial cases in litigation.  He has received professional training as both a mediator and arbitrator.  He is a member of the National Advisory Board of the Maritime Arbitration Association of the United States and is a contract arbitrator for NOAA’s Crab Rationalization Program for the Bering Sea Aleutian Island crab fisheries.

Nancy Whitehead, Jim’s wife, acts as the firm’s office manager and paralegal.  Previously, she worked for nearly twenty years as a certified paralegal in several prominent Seattle law firms.  For the six years before she joined Jim’s firm, she was the office manager of a large insurance company’s in-house law department.