From: Belleville, Illinois

Jim is a partner with Bill Mueller at The Law Offices of Mueller and Haller L.L.C. The firm is located in Belleville Illinois with branch offices in St. Louis Missouri, and in Glen Carbon, Effingham, Mt. Vernon and Marion Illinois. His firm practices solely in the fields of bankruptcy and consumer law. He is mainly involved in the daily litigation and appellate cases handled by the firm.

Currently, Jim is the Illinois state chair for NACBA and co-authored NACBA’s amicus brief on the Till case before the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2006, Jim was elected Vice-President of the Bankruptcy Association of Southern Illinois. He has written several bar journal articles on bankruptcy for the Illinois State Bar Association including Haller, What Till vs. SCS Credit Corporation Means for Your Chapter 13 Clients, 92 Ill. B.J. 478 (2004) and Haller and Mueller, The New Bankruptcy Law: A Consumer Lawyer’s Guide, 93 Ill. B.J. 454 (2005). He is currently writing, with Rachel Hill, a chapter for the bankruptcy guidebook to be published by the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education. He has spoken at various national and local groups concerning bankruptcy.

Jim started his legal career working for Legal Aid of Western Missouri. He and his senior attorney represented poor and indigent clients in 14 counties in rural western Missouri. Jim loved working for legal aid. When the forbearance on his student loans ended, Jim moved to St. Louis and joined a general practice firm. In July of 1998 he joined Bill Mueller’s firm and in 2005 became a partner. Jim loves practicing bankruptcy law. “Representing debtors as a bankruptcy attorney is a true peace and justice practice,” says Jim.

Jim has been impressed with NACBA since he attended his first convention in 1999. “It was surprising to be in a room with so many people who had the same concerns and problems I did,” says Jim. Since then, Jim has looked forward to the NACBA conventions for the guidance given by experienced presenters and from informal conversations with attorneys from across the county. “Every time I come back from NACBA, I bring back a list of legal issues I want to test in court and ideas I want to implement at the firm.”

Jim received his B.A. in political science from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota and his J.D. from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, Missouri.