Becky James is a Member in Dykema's San Antonio and Los Angeles offices.

Ms. James focuses her practice on white-collar criminal defense and civil and criminal appeals. She is certified by the California State Bar as an Appellate Specialist and is one of the few appellate practitioners with significant trial experience. She recently served as the appeals expert on the trial team representing Bill Cosby in his criminal retrial.

Ms. James previously spent over 12 years as a federal prosecutor in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California. During that time, she served as Chief of the Criminal Appeals Section, overseeing the Criminal Division’s approximately 500 appeals per year. She also served as the Chief and Deputy Chief of the General Crimes Section, training and supervising new attorneys in trial practice.  

As a private practitioner, Ms. James successfully represented clients in civil and criminal investigations, trials, and appeals. Among her notable wins, Ms. James has achieved reversals of her clients' criminal convictions, acquittal at trial, dismissal of all charges before trial, probationary and other reduced sentences, release from civil contempt, full reversals in civil actions, and reversal in a published opinion in a significant civil rights case. 

Ms. James has been an adjunct professor of appellate advocacy and white-collar crime and has taught trial advocacy and appellate advocacy at the Department of Justice National Advocacy Center. Ms. James served as a Ninth Circuit Lawyer Representative, serving as co-chair of the Central District of California delegation and as a member of the Ninth Circuit Conference Executive Committee.  She has also served on the board of the Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles.  She has been named a California “Super Lawyer.”

Bar Admissions

California

Texas

Education
Stanford Law School, J.D., 1990   Stanford University, A.B., 1987