Jim Leonard is a partner in the Atlanta office of Barnes & Thornburg LLP where he serves as an administrator in the firm's Litigation Department. He focuses his practice in the areas of insurance coverage advice and litigation on behalf of policyholders.
Mr. Leonard has assisted clients in recovering insurance proceeds in a wide variety of industries and professions, including airlines, auto parts, banking, technology, religious and non-profit organizations, communications, construction, consumer products, credit management, hospitals, infrastructure, nursing home and long-term care facilities, physicians, property management, universities, and many others. He has also provided counseling to health care and life and health insurer clients on significant matters of law including Stranger-Owned Life Insurance, ERISA, state regulatory and licensure issues, and general litigation.
Prior to joining Barnes & Thornburg, Mr. Leonard was a partner in the Insurance Recovery Group at Kilpatrick Stockton LLP. Before that, he served as Vice President, Claims and General Counsel with MAG Mutual Insurance Company in Atlanta, Georgia's largest professional liability insurer. He has been recognized by The International Who's Who of Business Lawyers for 2009 and the Who's Who Legal: Georgia 2007, and is AV® rated by Martindale-Hubbell.
Mr. Leonard earned his J.D. from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law in 1983. He received his B.A. in political science from Southern Methodist University in 1980. He currently serves as co-chair of the ABA's Construction Litigation Insurance Subcommittee, and is on the board of directors and executive committee for HARMONY: Atlanta's International Youth Chorus.
He is admitted to practice in the states of Texas and Georgia, and before the U.S. District Courts for the Northern Districts of Texas and Georgia, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the 5th and 11th Circuits, the Georgia Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court of Georgia.
Mr. Leonard is conversationally fluent in Spanish.
Publications
· The Corporate Counselor - "Is Your Company Sitting on Buried Treasure?'
· Barnes & Thornburg LLP's Construction Law Update - April 2011