James I. Stang

James Stang is a co-founder of Pachulski, Stang, Ziehl & Jones LLP, one of the nation’s premier boutique insolvency practices. Jim attended Hastings College of the Law (1980) after discovering that his undergraduate degree in Slavic Languages and Literature from the University of California-Berkeley (1977) provided him with limited opportunities for gainful employment. He started his practice at Sidley & Austin. In 1983 Jim, Richard Pachulski and Dean Ziehl started their own bankruptcy firm. Today, the firm has over sixty lawyers and offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and Delaware. Jim has practiced insolvency law for his entire legal career.

Jim’s practice has covered a broad range of roles in both bankruptcy cases and out-of court workouts. He has served as a state court receiver for real estate projects and operating businesses and as a chapter 7 and chapter 11 trustee. He has been qualified as an expert in bankruptcy law. As an attorney, he has represented trustees, examiners, debtors in possession and creditors committees. He always has had a diverse practice and his clients have ranged from Chippendales to the National Association of Attorneys General. Over the last few years, Jim has developed a specialization in representing committees of survivors of childhood sexual abuse by clergy in chapter 11 cases filed by Catholic dioceses. In October 2007, California Lawyer featured his representation of survivors in a front page article about the San Diego Diocese.

Jim has lectured and written on insolvency topics. Over the years, he has spoken on panels for the California Bar Association, the Turnaround Management Association, the California Bankruptcy Forum, the American Bankruptcy Institute, the Los Angeles Bankruptcy Forum and the Credit Research Foundation. He served as president of the Los Angeles Bankruptcy Forum and has regularly been named as a “SuperLawyer” by California Lawyer.

On the personal side, Jim enjoys reading histories of colonial America and the early United States and building balsa wood and tissue airplane models. Jim and his wife Ellen have two daughters, Nelle (a recent graduate of the University of San Francisco) and Leah (a first-year student at the University of Denver).