James M. Doran holds the title of Head of the Northern District of Ohio, Bankruptcy Division. Jim’s responsibilities include the management and training of all attorneys and paralegals throughout the Northern District of Ohio. Jim meets with clients regularly and is very passionate about protecting his clients from their creditors. Jim really enjoys giving his clients the fresh start that they both need and deserve. Jim zealously represents his clients to assist them with negotiating with their creditors, settling their debts and providing them with bankruptcy protection and relief when needed. Jim protects his clients from lawsuits, garnishments, repossessions, foreclosures and frozen bank accounts on a daily basis.
Prior to joining Amourgis in 2016, Jim spent many years working for the dark side (the creditors) as a collections attorney with Weltman, Weinberg & Reis Co., L.P.A., one of the largest creditor’s rights law firms in the country. Jim learned every collection tool available to creditors – essentially the entire creditor’s playbook – for over sixteen years. During his years with WWR, Jim litigated cases throughout Ohio for his bank and other creditor clients. Jim was a Senior Attorney in the firm’s Legal Department where he managed and litigated claims and defended his clients against counterclaims throughout the State of Ohio. Jim acted as in-house counsel for many bank clients and private business clients, providing sound legal advice on a variety of matters; notable clients included FirstMerit Bank and The Huntington National Bank. Jim served as lead counsel for hundreds of cases with a remarkable success rate and exceptional client satisfaction levels. Jim successfully managed a heavy case load of 200 to 600 active cases on a monthly basis. Jim also represented several residential and commercial landlord clients throughout the Cleveland area including individuals and large commercial landlords; notable clients included Forest City – a company with approximately $10 billion in assets including retail centers, office buildings and apartment communities throughout the country. Jim was a frequent lecturer throughout Northeast Ohio in the areas of Landlord-Tenant law and Collection law.
Prior to his time at Weltman, Jim practiced bankruptcy law with Rauser & Associates in 1999 where he represented the good guys (the consumers).
Jim graduated from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in 1998 with a Juris Doctorate degree. During law school, Jim clerked at Friedman, Domiano & Smith, a well-known personal injury firm located in Cleveland, Ohio.
Jim received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in 1995 from Miami University with a double major in Accounting and Finance. Jim originally went to law school to become a tax attorney but is thankful that his career path has afforded him the opportunity to do the rewarding consumer work that he does today where he once again represents the good guys (the consumers).
Jim lives in Avon with his wife and three children. Jim enjoys spending time with his family. He also enjoys marathon running and watching football (every single game there is according to his wife – every single Minnesota Vikings game would be a more accurate statement). Jim is an avid runner. Jim has completed ten full marathons and numerous half marathons. Jim’s future goals include qualifying for the Boston Marathon and qualifying for the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon. Jim also enjoys playing fantasy football and has won his fantasy football league on several occasions including this year.
