Robert D. James

Attorney At Law

Robert D. James

Attorney At Law

As of August of 2022, I had spent my entire twenty-year legal career working in the criminal justice system within Bucks County for the Bucks County District Attorney's Office. I was a senior prosecutor who handled many of the county's biggest and most difficult cases. A criminal allegation does not make you a criminal. With me, you will be treated with the dignity and respect that you deserve. Your phone calls and texts will be returned...by me, not a secretary.

I am far from your typical silver spoon type lawyer. I grew up in a working-class neighborhood in Bucks County and graduated from Bensalem High School in 1986. After high school, I volunteered to serve our country and entered the United States Air Force as Security Specialist. I am a Gulf War Veteran, serving in the Middle East during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. While in the Air Force, I worked hard to achieve many honors, including being named the top candidate in NCO Leadership School.

After leaving the Air Force, I attended and graduated from the University of Arizona with Honors degrees in History and Political Science. After college, I put myself through law school at Villanova University School of Law where I served as vice-president of the Criminal Law Society. After serving as a legal intern, I was immediately hired by former Bucks County District Attorney and Courts of Common Pleas Judge Diane E. Gibbons as an Assistant District Attorney in Bucks County where I spent 20 years serving Bucks County.

During my tenure as a prosecutor, I was promoted numerous times and was assigned to handle all types of difficult criminal matters from serious DUIs, firearms offenses, serious felonies, to numerous First-Degree Murders cases. I have developed a reputation during my career as being someone who is knowledgeable as to the law, and who is not afraid to fight for what is right. I have a record of proven leadership. In my experience, true leadership is not achieved by being handed a role based on the amount of time you stay in one place...it is earned through your words and actions.

Early on in the District Attorney’s Office I became an expert in DUI law and headed that division for many years. I took the initiative to start and lead the Bucks County Crash Investigation Team. Over the years, I was the primary trainer of prosecutors and law enforcement in DUI law and crash investigation matters. Simply put, nobody knows or does it better.

When I saw the need to help military Veterans charged with alleged criminal acts, I designed, implemented and ran the Bucks County Veterans Treatment Program. This program has helped hundreds of Veteran Defendants through the criminal justice system while pairing them with treatment opportunities to address issues Veterans are commonly afflicted with upon returning from war while in service to our country.

In addition to my employment at the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office, I was employed as an adjunct instructor at the Temple University Police Academy where I was the Criminal Law instructor for prospective law enforcement officers. As an expert in Motor Vehicle Accident cases involving injury, I have been hired to provide my expertise in civil personal injury matters.

During my free time, I enjoy volunteering my time with Veterans Services, DUI treatment providers, reading, attending concerts, enjoying the outdoors, cigars, tattoo arts and spending time with my daughter and friends.

Areas Of Practice

  • Criminal Defense
  • DUI Defense
  • Personal Injury
  • Traffic Law
  • Veterans Court
  • Title IX Defense

Admissions & Memberships

  • Pennsylvania, 2003
  • Bucks County Bar Association

Education

  • Villanova School of Law – Villanova, Pennsylvania, 1999 -2002
  •  Degree of Juris Doctor Awarded May 2002
  • Honors and Activities:
  • President, Federalist Society
  • Vice-President, Criminal Law Society
  • Reimel Moot Court Competition Quarterfinalist
  • Externship: United States Attorney’s Office, Eastern District
  • Internships: Bucks and Lehigh County District Attorney’s Offices
  • University of Arizona – Tucson, Arizona 1995 – 1998
  • Bachelor of Arts in History and Political Science 1998
  • Honors and Activities:
  • Graduated with Honors in History and Political Science
  • Dean’s List
  • Externship: Office of the Governor of Arizona (1998)

Awards

  • John Levitow NCO Leadership Award
  • Tuscon Military Law Enforcement Officer of the Year
  • Gulf War Veteran – Doha Air Base Qatar – Kuwaiti Liberation Medal

Volunteer Highlights

  • Community Relations – Bucks County District Attorney’s Office
  • Shamrock Reins – Equine Therapy
  • DUI Victim Impact Panel – Bucks County
  • Detective Christopher Jones Foundation
  • Volunteer Counsel for the Pennsylvania Innocence Project

Professional Experience

  • Bucks County Office of the District Attorney, Doylestown, Pennsylvania
  • August 2002 – August 2022, Deputy District Attorney – over 30 jury trials
  • Chief of Trials 2010- 2017
  • Chief of the Homicide by Vehicle Division and Crash Investigation Team 2010 – 2022
  • Chief of the Bucks County Veterans Treatment Program (Created the program in 2012)
  • Personally developed, implemented and conducted Veterans Treatment Court, personally handled every Veteran Defendant through the program
  • Created the Bucks County Crash Investigation Team in 2015
  • Developed the Bucks County Crash/DUI Investigation Protocols and Policies
  • Instructor at the Bucks County Training Center on topics involving DUI and HBV Investigation
  • Victim Impact Panel Speaker, Alcohol Highway Safety School Component, 2008 – 2022
  • Animal Cruelty Specialist, SPCA Liaison – 2015 to 2022
  • Trained/Educated District Attorney’s Office Staff in DUI, Crash Investigation, Trial Strategy
  • Expert Services for Civil Litigants in Motor Vehicle Personal Injury Cases 2018 – Present
  • Temple University, Adjunct Faculty, Law Enforcement Academy October 2008 – 2017,
  • Criminal Law Instructor, Law Enforcement Academy, Ambler Campus
  • United States Air Force, Honorable Discharge, Staff Sergeant   
    July 1988 – October 1995
  • Security Specialist, Air Base Ground Defense, Ground Launch Cruise Missile Defense (GLCM)
  • Veteran of Persian Gulf War, 1990 – 1991,
  • Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm, Doha, Qatar;
  • Awarded: Air Force Commendation Medal, Air Force
  • Achievement Medal, Air Force Good Conduct Medal (2), John Levitow Award Recipient (Top Graduate of the Non-Commissioned Officer Leadership Academy);
  • Awarded: Security Police Officer of the Year – Tucson, Airman of the Quarter; Davis-Monthan Air Force Base
  • Wing Airman of the Year

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