James D. Claytor focuses his practice on litigation, including:
- Commercial litigation, with a strong emphasis on defending business clients against unfair competition claims (including complaints under California Business & Professions Code Section 17200 et seq.)
- Employment litigation, including defending businesses against a wide variety of employment claims
- Trust and probate litigation, including representing both trustees and beneficiaries in trust and probate disputes
- Intellectual property litigation, including assisting business clients with prosecuting those who seek to infringe on such clients’ trademarks, tradenames, domain names, and copyrighted material
- Products liability litigation
- Construction defect litigation
- Material contract litigation
- Environmental litigation
- Real estate litigation
- Earth movement litigation
In addition to Mr. Claytor’s law practice, Mr. Claytor has served as a Judge Pro Tempore in the Alameda County Superior Court. Mr. Claytor has also served as an adjunct professor of civil procedure at John F. Kennedy School of Law.
Since 1990, Mr. Claytor has also served as a mediator for the Contra Costa County Superior Court. Mr. Claytor has also served as a panel mediator for the First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco since 1999. Mr. Claytor has completed extensive mediation courses offered by Stanford University School of Law. Mr. Claytor has also acted as a private mediator in a variety of disputes.
Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Claytor was a shareholder of Foley McIntosh Frey & Claytor in Lafayette, California. Prior thereto, Mr. Claytor served as a Deputy Attorney General with the California State Department of Justice. During that time, Mr. Claytor represented the State of California in a variety of civil matters, including health, education, and welfare litigation.
Mr. Claytor received his Juris Doctorate degree from Stanford University School of Law. Mr. Claytor received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Claremont McKenna College, cum laude, in Political Science.
Mr. Claytor is admitted to practice in California. In addition, Mr. Claytor is admitted to practice in all of the Federal District Courts in California, the Federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and the United States Court of Federal Claims.
Mr. Claytor’s non-professional interests range from coaching youth athletic teams (basketball, baseball, soccer, etc.) to snow skiing, hiking, golf, and weightlifting.