Jonathan is a highly skilled litigator and negotiator in high-conflict legal situations who consistently receives praise from clients for his integrity, professionalism, and responsiveness. He has extensive experience handling cases related to Collaborative Divorce, negotiated, and litigated divorce, complex property, and real estate division, contested custody, mental health and addiction issues, and pre- and post-marital agreements.
Jonathan is trained in Collaborative Divorce and is Board Certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in family law. He has been named D Magazine’s Best Lawyers Under 40 in 2023, 2025 and 2026, a Best Lawyers in America © by Best Lawyers in 2020, 2021, and 2023 – 2026, and a Super Lawyers Rising Star From 2019 – 2022 & 2025.
Jonathan invests his time doing pro bono work for victims of domestic violence in partnership with Genesis Women’s Shelter & Support and Emily’s Place. He is a member of the Annette Stewart American Inn of Court and the Dallas Bar Association Family Law Section. Jonathan also frequently writes on family law topics for the Texas Bar Journal, the Dallas Bar Association Headnotes, and the State Bar of Texas Family Law Section.
Jonathan James is a Dallas divorce lawyer working out of our Dallas and Plano office locations.
Honors & Awards
Best Lawyers Under 40, D Magazine, 2023, 2025, & 2026
The Best Lawyers in America© in the field of Collaborative Law:
Family Law, Best Lawyers, 2024 – 2026
The Best Lawyers in America©, Best Lawyers, 2020-2021, 2023 –
2026
Rising Star, Super Lawyers, Thomson Reuters,
2019-2022 & 2025
Articles
What Makes a Good Family Lawyer? September
18, 2025
Deeds, Mortgages, and Property Division: Getting a
Divorce With the House in Both Names or Just One July 15, 2025
Buying a House During a Divorce in Texas: What You Need
to Know July 3, 2025
Post-Marital and Premarital Agreements: The Gold Standard
for Protecting Assets May 13, 2025
Tips for Effective Communication During a Divorce October
28, 2024
Five Tips for How to Protect Your Separate Property in a
Divorce October 11, 2024
What Happens to Debt in a Divorce? October
11, 2024
What Are My Rights if I Leave the Marital Home? Problems
With Moving Out Before Divorce April 17, 2024
What Should I Do to Differentiate My Personal Assets from
Those of My Business? January 9, 2024
How Can I Protect My Business from Being Considered
Marital Property During the Divorce Process? December 19, 2023
Who Typically Gets the House in a Texas Divorce and What
to do if You Want to Keep the House April 24, 2023
Five Important Tips Before You File for Divorce November
16, 2022
What An Experienced Attorney Brings to Your High Net
Worth Divorce July 20, 2022
Who Gets the House in a Divorce? September
29, 2021
Publications & Speeches
Co-Author, “Five Tips to Protect and
Maintain Your Separate Property”, Dallas Bar Association Headnotes,
September 2019.
Author, “Right of First Refusal in Custody
Cases”, State Bar of Texas, Family Law Section Report, Volume 2017-6
(Winter).
Author, “Custody Fight: When Grandparents
or Other Relatives Seek Parental Rights”, Texas Bar Journal, November 2017
Author, “Kid Duty: The Right of First
Refusal in Custody Cases and How it Can Backfire”, Texas Bar Journal, July
2017.
AV Preeminent®: The highest peer rating standard. This rating signifies a large number of the lawyer’s peers rank him
or her at the highest level of professional excellence for their legal knowledge, communication skills and ethical standards.
Distinguished: An excellent rating for a lawyer with some experience. This rating indicates the attorney is widely
respected by their peers for high professional achievement and ethical standards.
Notable: This rating indicates that the lawyer has been recognized by a large number of their peers for strong ethical standards.
