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James O'Connell

Personal Injury Attorney

About Me

My wife and I moved to South Florida in 2023 to live near our adult son and begin the next stage of our lives in this area we’ve always loved.  I’m honored to have joined Rubenstein Law and its outstanding group of trial lawyers.  The earlier stages of my career involved, first, working in Boston as a litigator in a multi-national corporate law firm and as a criminal prosecutor in the Attorney General’s Office.  More recently, I lived in Maine for 16 years handling all variety of serious bodily injury and defective products cases as a partner/shareholder at Maine’s leading plaintiffs’ personal injury and medical malpractice law firm. 

Here in Florida, I continue to work hard for victims of serious injuries suffered at the hands of wrongdoers.  My approach combines compassion with strategic aggression.  I strive to deeply understand my clients’ challenges and earn their trust.  With that base of knowledge and trust, we present our clients to opposing insurance companies and juries and empower them to be heard, understood and fully compensated for their losses.

Expertise

Litigation attorney specializing in personal injury cases including:

  • Premises Liability
  • Car, Truck and Motorcycle Crashes
  • Wrongful Death
  • Defective Products
  • Traumatic Brain Injuries
  • Slip/Trip and Fall
  • Boating Accidents
  • Dog Attacks

Education & Accolades

  • Northeastern University School of Law, J.D. 1997
    • Law Clerk for the Hon. M. Bowler, United States Magistrate Judge, United States Dist. Court, Dist. of Massachusetts
    • Law Clerk for the United States Attorney’s Office, Criminal Division, Dist. of Northern California
  • Tufts University, B.A. 1992
    • Varsity Baseball
  • Past recognitions include Super Lawyers, Benchmark (Litigation Star) and Best Lawyers of America (Maine’s 2023 Product Liability Lawyer of the Year)

Memberships

  • Licensed Attorney in Florida, Massachusetts and Maine
  • Admitted to practice in U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, U.S. District Court, Districts of Southern Florida, Massachusetts and Maine
  • American Association for Justice
  • Florida Justice Association
  • Broward County Trial Lawyers Association
  • Broward County Bar Association
  • Maine Trial Lawyers Association (Board of Directors, 2017-2023)
  • Maine Bar Association (Chair, Litigation Section, 2015-2019)