James “Jim” Langendorf represents individuals and businesses in civil disputes involving money, ownership, employment, and fiduciary obligations. His practice focuses on commercial and closely held business disputes, wage-and-hour and other employment claims, and contested probate and fiduciary matters.

Jim is a trial lawyer. In 2026, he was lead trial counsel for the plaintiff in a closely held business dispute involving fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and an attempted ownership squeeze-out. The jury returned a verdict for his client awarding compensatory and punitive damages and recommending attorney fees.

Jim approaches litigation by identifying the important facts and building the case around them. Complex disputes can produce thousands of pages of documents, sworn testimony, and years of competing accusations. Jim focuses the case on what matters: the facts that can be proved and the law that gives them consequence.

Business and Commercial Disputes

Jim represents business owners, investors, companies, and individuals when commercial relationships break down. His work includes disputes involving:

• Shareholders, LLC members, and business partners
• Breaches of fiduciary duty
• Business breakups and ownership disputes
• Fraud and misrepresentation
• Contracts and commercial transactions
• Business assets, money, and control

His accounting background is particularly useful in cases involving financial records, business ownership, damages, distributions, payroll, and the movement of money through closely held companies.

Employment and Wage Claims

Jim has represented employees in wage-and-hour and other employment matters for more than two decades. He has substantial experience with the Fair Labor Standards Act and claims involving unpaid overtime, employee misclassification, and other unlawful wage practices.

He also handles claims involving the Family and Medical Leave Act, Title VII, discrimination, and retaliation.

Wage-and-hour cases turn on the details: what work an employee actually performed, how the employee was paid, how many hours were worked, what the employer's records show, and whether an exemption might apply. Jim's litigation and accounting experience allow him to evaluate both the legal and financial sides of these claims.

Before becoming an accountant and then practicing law, Jim worked jobs ranging from dishwasher and line chef to tire changer, delivery driver, and tugboat deckhand. He knows firsthand what it means to punch a clock, work for an hourly wage, and depend on a paycheck. He couples that perspective with more than two decades of representing employees in claims for unpaid overtime and other compensation.

Probate and Fiduciary Litigation

Jim represents clients in contested probate and fiduciary matters, focusing on cases with significant financial stakes, provable fiduciary misconduct, or disputes over control of estate and trust assets. His work includes:

• Executors, trustees, and other fiduciaries
• Estate and trust accounting
• Contested inheritances and disposition of assets
• Fiduciary misconduct
• Financial transactions involving estates and trusts

Experience Beyond the Courtroom

Jim's undergraduate degree is in accounting, and he was a staff accountant for a medium-sized business for two years before attending law school. After two decades in private practice, he spent three years as controller and general counsel for a private company, where he was responsible for accounting, finance, legal matters, and human resources, before returning to private practice in 2020. He also owns and manages real estate investments.