Jim was born in Chicago but grew up moving around the United States as the son of an Air Force flight surgeon. He graduated from the University of New Mexico in 1999 and attended the University of Richmond School of Law on a full tuition John Marshall Scholarship. As a law student, he participated in three jury trials and completed an externship with the Honorable Henry E. Hudson of the United States District Court Eastern District of Virginia, where he drafted two opinions. He graduated cum laude in May 2004 and promptly moved to Texas.

Jim has been licensed to practice law in Texas since November 2004. In 2012, he was admitted to practice in federal court in the Northern District of Texas. He was admitted to the Eastern District of Texas in 2013 and the Western District in 2021. In 2020, he was admitted to practice in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and argued a case before the Fifth Circuit on Zoom in December 2020. He has also handled several state court appeals, including oral arguments before the Fifth District Court of Appeals of Texas.

Jim joined a high volume plaintiffs’ law firm in February 2006, litigating hundreds of cases from discovery through trial. He left to found the Bauguss Law Firm in 2012, specializing in personal injury, criminal defense and employment law. He successfully litigated employment law cases and personal injury cases, including two wrongful death cases. He also took a criminal case to trial resulting in a not guilty verdict for his client.

As a trial attorney, Jim was lead counsel on 175-200 jury trials in Dallas County, Tarrant County, Kaufman County, Wise County, Denton County, Smith County, Collin County and Rockwall County. Over his eighteen years in litigation he has handled hundreds of mediations and has an established track record of settling even the most difficult of cases.