James B Manley Jr

For nearly 30 years, clients ranging from product manufacturers and public utilities to corporate officers and directors have counted on Jim, a trial attorney, as their trusted advisor and lead defense counsel in high-exposure litigation.

Jim has substantial experience litigating commercial disputes and cases in the areas of consumer product safety and product liability, high-exposure torts and catastrophic injury, and professional and fiduciary liability. He also acts as counselor and advisor to a number of chief legal officers and general counsel in the manufacturing, retail, insurance services, and financial services industries.

In his product liability practice, Jim guides clients in all aspects of product regulation, safety, and potential hazards, including investigations, product recalls and other corrective actions, warnings, and testing. He advises clients regarding compliance with the reporting requirements of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the federal agency charged with ensuring product safety, counseling them through national and international product recalls and guiding product and incident investigation teams consisting of subject matter experts from multiple technical and scientific disciplines.

In addition to counseling manufacturers on risk management, warranty-related issues, and warnings-related issues in a non-litigation context, he has successfully tried cases on behalf of Fortune 100 companies in state and federal courts throughout Georgia, and in Texas and Florida, and assisted in the creation of a national litigation discovery program for a Fortune 10 company.

Jim also practices in the area of professional and fiduciary liability, including offering counsel to directors and officers of financial institutions in adversary proceedings brought by the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) asserting negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, and other claims. He also represents directors and officers in proceedings involving corporate governance and professional duties.

Member, Judicial Nominating Commission, State of Georgia