About James E. Butler Jr.

Career

James E. Butler, Jr. is a founding partner of Butler Prather LLP, a nationally known civil trial practice firm which has litigated cases in 33 states – from Massachusetts to California, Oregon to Florida. Jim has been lead counsel in ten cases where the verdict exceeded $100 million, including a $1.7 BILLION verdict against Ford in a Super Duty roof crush case on August 22, 2022 and a a $2.5 BILLION verdict against Ford in another Super Duty roof crush case on February 14, 2025. Those ten verdicts came in cases involving business torts, products liability, and nuisance/trespass.

It is believed that no lawyer in American history has served as lead counsel in so many cases where the verdicts exceeded $100 million.

Jim has won record-setting verdicts in several states, including Missouri, Tennessee, and Alabama. He has set the record for largest verdict in Georgia history on six separate occasions – in four completely different kinds of civil cases (medical malpractice, trucking, auto products liability, and business torts/breach of fiduciary duty). No other lawyer has done that more than once. The first record-setting verdict in Georgia was when Jim was 31 years old – and was followed three months later by what was then the second largest verdict in Georgia history.

Jim was lead counsel in the Six Flags vs. Time Warner case, a business tort case, which is believed to be one of the largest collected judgments in American history ($454 million + interest).

In addition to the ten verdicts over $100 million, Jim has been lead counsel in cases with verdicts of $37 million, $30 million, $25 million, $17.7 million, $15.5 million, $13 million, $8 million. $4.7 million, $4.2 million, plus another six verdicts in excess of $1 million. Jim has won a total of 57 verdicts over $100,000. In addition to verdicts, Jim has served as lead counsel in hundreds of settled cases.

Jim has also served as lead counsel in several False Claims Act cases, including one that resulted in $279 million paid by the defendants, and in numerous class action cases, one group of which resulted in over $349,500,000 paid by defendants. Those cases also resulted in the creation of remainder funds that paid some $20 million to charities. Jim was lead counsel in another case, handled pro bono, that has resulted in payment of over $27 million to charities.

Jim has also served as lead counsel defending cases for long-time corporate clients, including for one client that in 2020 was sued in seven cases in four states. In that case Jim was lead counsel for a team that won dismissal of the last of those seven cases 5 months and 2 days after the first such case had been filed, and also defeated a motion for an MDL.

Jim has been listed by Super Lawyers every year since 2004 based on peer reviews and independent research conducted by the rating agency.

Education

Early Life & Education

Jim began writing for newspapers at age 15 and graduated from the University of Georgia School of Journalism. Between college and law school he was a homebuilder in Forsyth County, Georgia, building 42 homes.

Jim was offered full scholarships to Harvard Law School and to the University of Georgia School of Law. He chose to attend Georgia, largely because he had to be near his construction business to wind that down during a profound real estate depression at the time.

Jim graduated cum laude from the University of Georgia School of Law, where he won both the first year and second year moot court competitions, the Southern moot court competition, and was a member of the National Moot Court team. He was also elected to the Law Review.

Jim began his law practice in Columbus Georgia in 1977, but opened an Atlanta office in 1982. In 2018 the Firm added a Savannah Georgia office.

Jim has long been active in politics, beginning at age 19 when he worked in a Georgia gubernatorial campaign. Jim has also been active with conservation groups. He served on the Georgia Board of Natural Resources, including as Chair of the Environmental Protection Committee. Jim was a founder of Flint Riverkeeper, Inc., of the Chattahoochee RiverWarden (now Chattahoochee River Conservancy), of the Chattahoochee Valley Land Trust, and of Georgia Watch. Jim has also served on the boards of many similar groups, and endowed a fellowship program at the University of Georgia School of Ecology. He has also been active in a variety of charitable and philanthropic organizations. He was a founding member of the Board of the Arch Foundation for the University of Georgia and subsequently served as a member of the Board of the University of Georgia Foundation.

Honors & Memberships

Jim has received a variety of professional honors, including the State Bar of Georgia General Practice & Trial Section “Tradition of Excellence Award,” the University of Georgia Law School’s “Distinguished Scroll Award”, and the American Board of Trial Advocates Civil Justice Award. He has been a Master of the Bench, Columbus Inns of Court.

Jim has long been recognized as a leader among trial lawyers in Georgia, and served as President of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association, and as a founding Director of the Georgia Civil Justice Foundation. He has served his profession in a variety of capacities, including serving on the State Bar Disciplinary Board. Jim has been recognized as a “Super Lawyer” for many years, and was one of the youngest lawyers ever to receive Martindale-Hubbell’s, the leading national rating agency, “AV Preeminent—5.0 out of 5.0” rating.” He has been invited to speak at legal seminars dozens of times.

Charity & Philanthropic Ventures

In 2017, Jim Butler funded the lead gift to the University of Georgia School of Law that enabled the Veterans Legal Clinic to open in June 2018. The clinic works with veterans and their dependents to help ensure access to benefits and services, especially for those with mental or physical disabilities resulting from their time in military. In addition, the clinic provides veterans in Georgia with legal assistance they might not otherwise have access to or be able to afford. The gift was made in memory of Butler’s father, Lt. Cmdr. James E. Butler, Sr., who was a fighter pilot in the U.S. Navy.

In 2018, Butler donated a gift to the UGA School of Law that would guarantee financial aid to 100 percent of veterans starting law school in Athens, beginning in 2019. This initiative is called “The Butler Commitment.” The Butler Commitment has been renewed annually. Because of Butler’s gift, the UGA Law School committed to providing financial aid to every veteran beginning since the fall of 2020.

Jim was himself unable to serve in the United States military. At age 17 he was badly injured in the crash of a General Motors “Corvair” – one of the most defective vehicles ever manufactured.

Jim is married to the former Kim Cofer of Thomson, Georgia, herself an attorney in Savannah Georgia, and now Of Counsel to Butler Prather. They have four children and seven grandchildren.