James G. Bordas III, Attorney

JIM is a Charleston, West Virginia native. Jim, along with his wife, Linda, founded the firm of Bordas & Bordas upon Linda’s graduation from law school in 1985. He has obtained verdicts and settlements in medical malpractice, product liability, chemical exposure, lender liability, bad faith insurance, soft tissue/head injury and TMJ cases, employment law, nursing home and trucking litigation. He has successfully prosecuted numerous criminal cases and has also successfully defended multiple diverse criminal cases. He has been trial counsel in most of the firm's cases that resulted in decisions by the West Virginia Supreme Court.

He started the firm's DVD Mediation Program, Focus Group Trial Preparation Concept, and Mock Trial Programs. He continues to focus his efforts on the firm's major and most complex cases while still taking the time to assist the area's poor people in helping to solve some of their problems free of charge.

Jim came to Wheeling, West Virginia in 1972 after graduating from law school and marrying Linda. He was employed by the Wheeling law firm of Riley & Yahn. Within two years, he became a named partner and the firm name was changed to Riley, Yahn, Bordas & Cooey. While employed there, he was also a part-time assistant prosecuting attorney for Ohio County, West Virginia. During this time, he was the lead attorney in most of the office’s major felony cases.

In 1978, Jim started his own practice in the Elm Grove area of Wheeling. His practice continued to focus on representing persons who had been injured as a result of the negligence of others. Ask Jim or one of the firm's other lawyers about the many verdicts and settlements recovered by the firm on behalf of its clients. He remained in the Elm Grove area until 1985 when he and Linda opened their office on National Road in the Dimmeydale area of Wheeling.

Jim and his cases have been featured on national television on both 60 Minutes and Inside Edition. He has lectured in the areas of lender liability, bad faith insurance, medical malpractice and personal injury. Jim is on the Board of Governors of the West Virginia Association for Justice. He is also one of only six members in the State of West Virginia on the Civil Law Committee appointed by Chief Justice Elliott E. Maynard of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals to compose standard jury instructions for use in civil trials in West Virginia.

While in law school, he was a dorm proctor at the Towers Dormitory Complex and was also a tutor for the football and basketball teams. While in law school, Jim also participated in the volunteer legal aid clinic where he worked under current Supreme Court Justice Larry Starcher.

Jim is a graduate of West Virginia State College. He received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in 1969. While attending West Virginia State he worked for the West Virginia Laborers Trust Fund. He also continued to work at Kroger, a job that he had started while he was in high school.

Jim graduated from Charleston Catholic High School in Charleston, West Virginia, where in 1964 he played on a football team that was undefeated for two years and had a winning streak of twenty-one games and won the 1962-63 Catholic State Championship. As a senior, he was voted by his teammates as the football team’s most valuable player for the 1963-64 season. In addition to playing football, he also participated in basketball and baseball.

Since moving to Wheeling, Jim has served many years as a volunteer coach for the Wheeling Amateur Hockey Association. Jim has also volunteered his time as a football and baseball coach. He, along with his wife Linda, is currently a Co-Trustee of the Roy Chambers Foundation, a charitable organization that provides services and goods to needy children with needs in Ohio County. Jim and Linda have been instrumental in assisting numerous other public and charitable causes as well.

Jim attends St. Vincent De Paul Catholic Church in Wheeling. He and his wife, Linda, are the parents of two sons, Jamie and Ben. He belongs to the West Virginia Association for Justice, the American Association for Justice and the West Virginia State Bar. He is an avid Democrat.

Flexible