James Plemmons

Practice Areas

James A. “Jim” Plemmons has practiced in the insolvency/bankruptcy area for more than three decades with a strong focus in the automotive industry.

Jim's roots in the automotive sector run deep. He spent his formative years — from early adolescence through college — working in his father's machine tool shop, gaining hands-on experience with the supply chain infrastructure that underpins American manufacturing. That background shaped a legal career built on genuine industry fluency. Since entering practice, Jim has served as trusted counsel to a major automotive OEM and dozens of Tier 1 auto suppliers, guiding them through supply chain crises, troubled supplier situations, and large-scale insolvency proceedings where production continuity — and sometimes survival — hung in the balance.

In an industry defined by just-in-time delivery, the stakes in Jim's matters are rarely modest. He has handled scores of engagements involving hundreds of millions — and in recent years, billions — of dollars in exposure, with many of the most consequential cases playing out in the nation's leading bankruptcy venues: Delaware, New York, and Texas. His practice is national and cross-border in scope, extending throughout the United States and Canada and reflecting the genuinely international character of the modern automotive supply chain. His representative matters include serving as counsel to FCA US LLC (f/k/a Chrysler Group LLC), Adient, Yanfeng, and Visteon Corporation in supplier and bankruptcy matters, and representing more than 15 suppliers during General Motors' bankruptcy.

Jim's bankruptcy practice is not confined to the automotive sector. He serves as primary insolvency and bankruptcy counsel to a major secured finance company, handling matters across Michigan and Texas. He has represented secured lenders, unsecured lenders, bankruptcy trustees, debtors, shareholders, and investor groups across the full spectrum of bankruptcy, restructuring, and workout proceedings — including corporate and individual reorganization and liquidation proceedings. He has also represented major insurance companies, including Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, Travelers Insurance Company, and Nationwide Insurance Company, in workout, foreclosure, and bankruptcy matters.

Jim is a former Chair of Dickinson Wright's Automotive Industry Team and currently serves as Deputy CEO of the firm, where he also sits on the Management Group.

Professional Memberships

Michigan Bar Association; Federal Bar Association for the Eastern District of Michigan; American Bankruptcy Institute; Tennessee Bar Association.

Publications

Co-Author, "Managing Uncertainty Through Financial Crisis Requires Proactive Guidance," Dickinson Wright Client Alert; Author, “Distressed Suppliers: How Your Company Can Deal with the Problem,” Equipment Leasing Newsletter, December 2016; Co-Author, “A Tale of Two Industries and the Bankruptcy Code,” American Bankruptcy Institute Journal, August 2016; Author, “Business Triage: Can Your Company Survive?” The Bankruptcy Strategist, August 2016; Co-Author, Strategies for Secured Creditors in Workouts and Foreclosures: Closing, Reorganizing or Selling the Business (ICLE).

Education

Awards