James McManis, founding partner of leading Northern California trial firm McManis Faulkner, has been elected, by unanimous vote, an honorary bencher of the Honorable Society of King’s Inns, Dublin, Ireland.
The oldest institution of legal education in Ireland, the Honorable Society of King’s Inns is comprised of benchers, barristers and students. The benchers include all the judges of Ireland’s Supreme and High Courts as well as a number of elected barristers. Prior to the election of McManis and two other Fellows of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers (Tom Girardi and Pat McGroder), the only Americans so honored were U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Antonin Scalia. Election as an honorary bencher is the highest accolade that the Inn can confer.
As a member of the trial bar for more than 40 years, McManis represents Silicon Valley companies with commercial, trade secret and intellectual property issues. Listed in the Best Lawyers in America for 13 consecutive years as well as Northern California Super Lawyers for nine consecutive years, he also represents individuals in a wide variety of matters, including civil rights actions, employment disputes, family law and criminal defense. McManis was recently appointed to the newly established Task Force on Admissions Regulation Reform by the California State Bar. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, Litigation Counsel of America, American Bar Foundation and International Academy of Trial Lawyers. He earned his J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law (1967) and his B.A. in history, with distinction, Phi Beta Kappa, from Stanford University (1964).