McManis Faulkner Founder and Partner James McManis has been named to the inaugural list of “Equality Trailblazers” by the National Law Journal, a leading legal industry publication and part of the Law.com/ALM (American Lawyer Media) family of media.
The National Law Journal’s “Equality Trailblazers” awards recognize persons in the legal industry who have fought for equality and the civil rights of individuals through new types of strategies or innovative court cases.
In making its selection, the National Law Journal noted McManis’ dedication to serving disadvantaged individuals and highlighted a handful of his prominent civil rights cases, including McManis’ representation of Dr. Rahinah Ibrahim in the first successful challenge of an individual placed on a post-9/11 watchlist. The publication also lauded McManis’ representation of a Chinese-American doctor who was violently arrested for declining to sign a traffic citation, as well as his role in the landmark California Supreme Court decision in Smith v. City of San Jose, which set a statewide precedent for records disclosure and overruled the City's practice of withholding records related to public business sent or received from private devices.
McManis handles commercial, trade secrets and intellectual property matters, in addition to his civil rights work. A member of the trial bar for more than 50 years, he also represents individuals in civil rights actions, employment disputes, family law and criminal defense. McManis is an Honorary Bencher of the Honorable Society of King’s Inns, the oldest institution of legal education in Ireland. In addition, he is a Fellow of the Academy of Court Appointed Masters, the American College of Trial Lawyers, the Litigation Counsel of America, the American Bar Foundation and the International Academy of Trial Lawyers. McManis received 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).
McManis Faulkner, a San Jose, California based trial firm, provides a full range of litigation services, representing both corporations and individuals through trial and appeal. The firm handles a wide range of litigation, including business, civil rights, class actions, criminal, employment, family, general civil, intellectual property, personal injury, probate, and professional negligence. With experienced, well-trained trial lawyers and staff, McManis Faulkner prides itself on its ethnic, cultural, and religious diversity.