Volunteer of the Month – January 2024

James Urrutia of the LJU Law Firm

James was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area.  He learned to speak Spanish after he served a two-year proselyting mission for the Mormon Church in Texas and Argentina.  After his mission, James received a B.A. in Economics and a J.D. from BYU.  He began his professional career in Las Vegas learning how to litigate and try cases at a construction defect firm.  In 2016, he made one of the most important decisions of his professional career and that was decide to take his litigation and trial skills to the Plaintiff side.  In January 2023, his started LJU Law Firm, specializing in personal injury and civil rights.  LJU stands for Law, Justice and Unity.

In 2014, James took his first CAP pro bono case after a judge encouraged him.  One of his law firm’s core values is community and they encourage each other to get involved and serve our community.  He mentioned that one paralegal in particular, Sonya Williams, has been exemplar in serving the community by working in identifying pro bono cases and managing the workload.  He believes that Sonya is a great driving force in the recent uptick in the pro bono work they are doing.  This is one of the reasons why James continues doing pro bono work.  He believes that too many people need help and that he and his firm should help those in need.

When asked to share about a memorable client, James mentioned that he has been recently working on helping a group of clients on a federal case.  While multiple motions for summary judgement were pending, his office was able to push the defense to disclose video evidence needed on his client’s defense.  Having litigated, the case, he was able to receive an efficacious outcome for his clients.

We are grateful to have James as a volunteer for our Pro Bono Project and are pleased to name him our Pro Bono Attorney of the Month.