About James B.
James B. Kennedy built his legal foundation at the University of Texas at Austin, earning a Bachelor of Arts in 1991, and then at Texas Tech University School of Law, where he received his J.D. in 1994. He entered the profession in the mid-1990s and quickly moved into courtroom work. His early training came at Scherr, Legate & Ehrlich, P.L.L.C., where he began practicing the year he graduated from law school.
After several years honing trial skills, Kennedy helped form Gage and Kennedy, P.L.L.C. in 2000 and established James Kennedy P.L.L.C. that same year. Those moves signaled a transition from associate roles to firm leadership. Over time he cultivated a practice that regularly involves contested matters and courtroom advocacy.
Kennedy holds admissions across multiple state and federal jurisdictions. He is licensed to practice in Texas and New Mexico, and he also maintains admission in Arizona, Nevada and Colorado. On the federal side, he is admitted to the Texas Western District, New Mexico Federal Court, the Nevada Federal Court and the Tenth Circuit of Appeals. The list of courts reflects a practice that litigates cases in several states and handles appeals when cases move beyond trial courts.
Trial work has been a central part of his professional life. He has been a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates since 2000. His involvement in that organization included a term as vice president in 2011–2012 and a year as president in 2012–2013. Those leadership roles put him in contact with trial practitioners around the country and placed him in a position to participate in programs and events aimed at improving courtroom practice.
Locally, Kennedy has maintained a long-standing connection to the El Paso Bar Association, where his membership dates back to 1994. That local engagement has run in parallel with the broader regional admissions and national trial organization work. Through those ties he remains part of both courtroom and community legal networks.
Today he leads James Kennedy P.L.L.C., a practice that grew out of his earlier partnership and private practice work. He continues to handle litigation that reaches both trial and appellate levels and practices in state and federal forums across several western states. His current work concentrates on litigation and trial practice in those jurisdictions.
