James McManis, name partner of McManis Faulkner, has been honored as one of the “Leading Lawyers in California” by the Daily Journal, California’s largest legal news provider. This listing highlights 100 attorneys whose work has had the widest impact and has changed an industry, the law, or society as a whole. McManis was selected from hundreds of nominations from law firms, nonprofits, universities, and in-house counsel.
This year, McManis obtained a $2 million settlement for the family of Brandon Marshall, who was fatally shot outside his workplace by a deputy sheriff. The settlement was the highest settlement by the County of Santa Clara in a civil rights case in a decade.
McManis also successfully represented a woman after two Santa Clara County sheriff's deputies shoved her against her car during a 2014 traffic stop. A federal jury found that the deputies had used excessive force, and that the sheriff had ratified their conduct, and awarded the client $40,000, which she plans to donate to charity.
In addition, a judge ruled in favor of McManis’ client, the Vietnamese American Community of Northern California, in a lawsuit accusing San Jose officials of repeatedly violating the Brown Act, California's law requiring open government meetings.
A seasoned trial lawyer and member of the bar for almost 50 years, McManis handles cases in both the commercial and intellectual property arenas. He also represents individuals in a wide variety of other matters, including civil rights actions, employment disputes, family law, and criminal defense. McManis 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).