James P. Kelaher | Attorney

James P. Kelaher is a Florida native, born and raised in Central Florida. He attended William R. Boone High School and then graduated from the University of Central Florida with a B.A. degree in Pre-Law. After graduation and having worked at the Orlando Tennis Center as its' head tennis professional, Jim went to law school where he graduated from Florida State University College of Law in 1981. In 1983, he left the firm where he practiced personal injury and wrongful death in both general negligence and medical malpractice cases, and opened his own law firm, Law Offices of James Kelaher, P.A.

Over the years, Mr. Kelaher, who prefers to be called Jim, took on several partners, and the firm continued to grow until there were over twenty employees. During the course of time, he became increasingly active in both his local and statewide associations of personal injury lawyers, first becoming president of the Central Florida Trial Lawyers Association, and then later the statewide association of personal injury lawyers, the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers. In order to fight to maintain the rights of injured victims in the legal system, he became very involved in the state trial lawyers' political action committee, Florida Lawyers Action Group (FLAG), serving first on its Board of Trustees and ultimately becoming the statewide chair of FLAG.

During his career, he has handled well over a thousand general negligence and medical, legal and other professional malpractice cases. Jim was nominated to and is listed among "Leading Florida Attorneys," a publication in which less than 6% of Florida's attorneys are listed.

Martindale-Hubbell, the national firm which rates lawyers, has listed Jim not only as "AV," which is its highest rating, it has included him in its national publication, "The Bar Register of Preeminent Attorneys." He has been listed for years in the publication, "Who's Who in American Law," as well as in "Who's Who in America," "Who's Who in the South and Southwest," and "Who's Who Among Rising Young Professionals." Jim Kelaher has also been named as one of Florida's Super Lawyers for 2007.

Jim Kelaher is board certified by the Florida Bar in civil trial law, and was nominated to and is a member of the College of Diplomats of the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers. He has authored several publications on topics such as medical malpractice and products liability including such works as "All in The Family: Interspousal and Intrafamily Tort Immunity-The Trend to Abolish in Florida," The Florida Bar Journal, October, 1981; "The Legislative Immunization of the Florida Medical Community," The Florida Bar Journal, July-August, 1982; "Strict Liability and Implied Warranties in Defective Products Cases," The Orange County Bar Briefs, June, 1982., and has lectured on numerous occasions to personal injury lawyers on medical malpractice, insurance law, and automobile negligence law. He is a member of the Orange County Bar Association, where he has done volunteer work on the Fee Arbitration Committee and the Citizen Dispute Resolution Committee. Jim has served on numerous occasions as an arbitrator for the U.S. Federal Court Middle District Arbitration Program, as well as the Ninth Circuit Fee Arbitration Committee. In addition to the above, his memberships include the Florida Bar, the American Bar Association, the Central Florida Trial Lawyers Association and the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, where he is a sustaining member.

The Pro Bono work which Jim has done over the years has been centered primarily on protecting the rights of abused and neglected children. Jim as acted as Guardian ad Litem for numerous children in the past decade, representing the interests of these children in situations where the state has felt it necessary to remove them from their parents' homes. Whether it be in the courtroom, the Juvenile Justice Center, as a volunteer lobbyist in Tallahassee, or in local and statewide political races, Jim has been consistently dedicated to protecting the rights of the individual, child and adult alike.

In 1998, in order to offer better personal service to his clients, Jim left the law firm he began in 1983, and once again opened his office as a sole practitioner by found Kelaher Law Offices, P.A.