Double Dawg James E. “Jim” Butler Jr. has worked hard to become a recognized force in the legal profession but acknowledges that his clients as well as the individuals he has had the opportunity to work alongside have had a hand in his many accomplishments.

Butler, who earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism, knew from his childhood that he wanted to be a lawyer.

He said the first time the law piqued his interest was after seeing the film “To Kill a Mockingbird” as a child. He then added, “My Sunday School teacher when I was 13 was a lawyer in Cumming, Georgia. He later became a Superior Court Judge and was named Richard Neville (J.D.’62). He sort of steered me in that direction also.”

While Butler was offered full scholarships to both Harvard University and UGA Law, he decided to stay in Georgia for his legal education as he had several properties that he recently built for sale.

“It was nice to be in air conditioning all the time,” he said. “I’d been building houses for two-and-a-half years, and [law school] was intellectually stimulating … so I enjoyed it. It was great.”

After graduating from law school in 1977, he began his
career in Columbus, and it has been, by all accounts, remarkable.

Butler has set the record for the largest verdict in Georgia history four separate times – in four different types of cases. He has been lead counsel in nine cases that exceeded $100 million. He also served as lead counsel in a business tort case, Six Flags v. Time Warner, which is believed to be the largest collected judgment in U.S. history – $454 million.

Despite all of the impressive monetary wins, Butler said his two favorite cases are ones he worked on pro bono.

The first was when the citizens of Taylor County, Georgia, sued members of its Board of Commissioners, the board and county after they learned the county planned to locate a hazardous waste management facility in the area.

“They decided to put it in the north part of Taylor County, right on top of family farms,” he said. Butler was able to stop the build and, even now, almost 40 years later, there are no hazardous waste incinerators in Georgia.

The second case Butler cites as a favorite was that of Elmyr Tompkins, a widow who lived in Muscogee County, Georgia. Tompkins had significant land holdings and no heirs, and she planned to leave her estate to two charities. However, distant cousins became aware of the situation and “held her hostage in her own home,” Butler said, while forcing her to change her will.

Several lawyers, including Butler, took on the case and “we broke up that gambit, got her will changed back. The last time I checked in those two charities had collected $26 million.”

Throughout his legal career, Butler has supported UGA and the School of Law, specifically its student veterans.

He provided the lead donation to fund the school’s Veterans Legal Clinic. The unit, which opened its doors in 2018, assists Georgia veterans with claims before the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and provides law students an opportunity to engage with real-world clients, cases and communities.

He also established the Butler Commitment, which guarantees financial assistance to 100% of veterans who matriculate at the School of Law.

With gifts made to the law school in memory of his father, Lt. Cmdr. James E. Butler Sr., who was a U.S. Navy fighter pilot, and his brother, Dennis Butler, who served in the U.S. Army, Butler said he considers it an honor to help the law school support those who have served our country.

Recognizing his deep level of commitment, the School of Law recently named the Dean Rusk Hall courtyard in his honor. It is located near the Butler Courtroom on the first floor of Rusk Hall.

Now the founding partner of Butler Prather – which has offices in Atlanta, Columbus and Savannah – Butler said he prefers the courtroom to the business side of leading a law firm, but acknowledges how lucky he is.

“I’ve had a hell of a lot of fun with the people I’ve worked with,” he said, noting several of his colleagues have worked with him for 30-plus years. “We’ve got a lot of people who have been around a long time. I’ve always liked working with good lawyers, especially with our paralegals and investigators. They’re just top notch.”

Butler noted that he has a rule at his firm – no glass ceilings – that came about after he went to law firms as a young lawyer and saw some of those organizations’ working styles.

Ultimately, Butler said the key to his success boils down to a few things. “I would say it’s been great cases, great clients, great teamwork and really hard work – in that order.”