About James R.
James R. Saywell has built a career centered on appellate work and federal court practice. He is admitted to practice in Ohio and before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
He began his federal clerkship circuit in 2014, serving a term with Judge David McKeague of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. The following year he clerked for Judge Jeffrey Sutton, another Sixth Circuit judge. Those experiences offered repeated exposure to the day-to-day demands of appellate decisionmaking and the procedural mechanics of federal appeals.
After his time on the bench, Saywell joined private practice as an associate at Jones Day in 2016. He returned to the federal judiciary in 2017 to serve as a law clerk to Justice Samuel Alito at the Supreme Court of the United States. That one-year Supreme Court clerkship placed him at the center of high-stakes briefing and opinion drafting.
He rejoined Jones Day in 2018 as an associate on the Issues & Appeals team. In that role he has worked on briefs and strategic planning for appeals and filings at multiple levels of the federal system. His record of alternating between clerkships and practice has given him repeated experience drafting opinions, preparing bench memoranda, and shaping appellate briefs for appellate panels and the Supreme Court.
Colleagues describe his work as attentive to doctrinal detail and attentive to court preferences. He has practical experience managing the rhythm of appeal schedules, preparing certiorari petitions, and responding to emergency filings. His background on the Sixth Circuit and a Supreme Court term informs how he frames legal arguments and anticipates questions from judges.
Saywell’s practice combines appellate writing, oral argument preparation and client counseling about appellate options. He appears in filings on behalf of clients before federal courts, particularly in matters that involve complex procedural and constitutional issues. He is based at Jones Day and continues to represent clients in appeals and related federal court matters.
He currently practices at Jones Day, concentrating on appellate litigation in federal courts, including matters in the Sixth Circuit and the Supreme Court.