BIOGRAPHY | Mysite

Jim has received over 200 five star reviews as well as a Client Champion and Client's Choice Award.

Jim has over 30 years of experience as an attorney addressing matters involving compensation, wage & hour matters, workplace investigations, terminations, discipline, lay-offs, workers' compensation, all forms of workplace and non-workplace discrimination, whistleblowing, OSHA matters, unemployment compensation, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), drug and alcohol issues, non-compete agreements, severance agreements, cease and desist letters, workplace bullying and incivility, revoked job offers, interference with a job, contract or business relationship, identity theft, notices of intent to sue, defamation, Employee Polygraph Protection Act, employment contracts, and other labor and employment issues arising in the public and private sector. As an experienced trial lawyer, he regularly appears before federal and state courts and administrative agencies. He practices nationally.

For more than 16 years, Jim Abrams served as senior labor and employment counsel for Rockwell International as the operator of a nuclear weapons facility and Texaco's exploration and production, refining, marketing and transportation units. As lead investigator in hundreds of workplace investigations, he has the knowledge and experience to advise either management or employees. He has authored a number of articles, been interviewed and quoted by major news organizations including CNN, Fox News, Forbes, ABC, the Denver Post, KHOW radio and other publications and has given multiple presentations on labor and employment law and human resource matters.

Trained by the U.S. Department of Justice and previously serving as Counsel for the Solicitor of Labor, Jim represented a variety of federal agencies including the Wage & Hour Division, OSHA, MSHA, the Employment Standards Administration and the OFCCP. He has appeared with the National Labor Relations Board to prosecute alleged violations of the National Labor Relations Act. Jim has also appeared with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission attorneys in federal court to remedy violations of Title VII. Jim served as pro bono counsel to the Visiting Nurse Association for 10 years.

Jim Abrams received his Juris Doctor from the University Of Oklahoma Law School where he was named to the Dean's List. He received his Master of Science and Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma Medical Center under the sponsorship of the United States Public Health Service. He received his baccalaureate degree from the University of Nebraska (Lincoln.) Jim received his Certified Compensation Professional designation through the American Compensation Association.

At the request of the United States Congress, Jim Abrams has testified on workplace matters. He has been judicially qualified to testify as an expert in employment law. He formerly served on the Colorado Supreme Court's Civil Rules Committee and on the Board of Directors for the Colorado Safety Association and the board of the American Corporate Counsel Association, Colorado Chapter.

Jim Abrams has been admitted to practice in the States of Oklahoma and Colorado as well as the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado and the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.

National Service:

Commander, United States Navy, Medical Department. The United States Public Health Service, Commissioned Corps, United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC )

Agency Practice

US Department of Labor, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Wage and Hour Division, Colorado Civil Rights Division (CCRD), Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE), National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Denver Anti-discrimination Office (DADO), Environmental Protection Agency(EPA), Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), State Personnel Board, Denver Career Service Authority, Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act of 1986 (AHERA), Clean Air Act of 1977 (CAA), Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), Energy Reorganization Act of 1978 (ERA), Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972 (aka Clean Water Act) (FWPCA), International Safe Container Act of 1977 (ISCA), Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2002 (PSIA), Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982 (STAA), Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974 (SDWA), Solid Waste Disposal Act of 1976 (SWDA), Corporate and Criminal Fraud Accountability Act of 2002, Title VIII of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX), Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 (TSCA), Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century (AIR21)

Representative Cases

Galdamez v. Landry's Denver Aquarium. Denver District Court, 16CV33500.

Jim Abrams represented the Plaintiff, Willie Galdamez. Judgment for Plaintiff Willie Galdamez was granted based on disability discrimination and outrageous conduct of Landry's Denver Aquarium. Defendant referred to this 8-year-old, wheel-chair bound, a victim of cerebral palsy as an "it" and a "that" after leaving him outside in snowy conditions. Then the Aquarium denied him entry to its facility. The Aquarium's owner declined to apologize and instead hired a national law firm in order to require this case to be tried. Verdict for Plaintiff.

EEOC and Tyler Riley v. Western Trading. Verdict for Plaintiff. Punitive damages awarded

Carnation Building Services v. City and County of Denver. Verdict for Plaintiff

QUALIFICATIONS - Other Affiliations - Classes and Seminars

Council on Education in Management, Personnel Law Updates, Valley Education Institute, Ltd., Lorman

Education Services and Labor and Employment Law Institute, Colorado Bar Association, 1991 - 1998

Council on Education in Management, Personnel Law Updates, Valley Education Institute, Ltd., Lorman

Education Services and Labor and Employment Law Institute, Colorado Bar Association, 2000 - 2004

"Occupational Health and Safety Magazine", August 1997

Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, Committee on Education and the Workforce, United States Congress, Testimony of Jim Abrams, September 11, 1997