James F. Penman
Phone 909-798-3300
Fax 909-798-3301
James F. Penman has represented a wide range of clients in more than a thousand cases during his 34 plus years in practice. An experienced trial lawyer, Penman served for 26 years as the City Attorney for the City of San Bernardino. Supervising 9 Deputy City Attorneys and dozens of contract lawyers, Penman has a wide range of experience in litigation, government law, business law, contract law, employment law, personal injury, construction litigation and a wide variety of civil actions.
Currently, Penman is spending more time on litigation, construction disputes, employment law, estate planning, trusts, wills, business law and immigration law while continuing to represent both plaintiffs and defendants in a variety of civil lawsuits.
Practice Focus
Government and Administrative law remains a concentration of Penman’s practice, as when he was city attorney, but now he represents developers, contractors, public employees and others in conflict with governments as well as presenting projects and other requests to the State of California, County government offices, various cities and other government agencies in the Inland Empire and beyond. He has also represented clients in disputes and lawsuits brought by or against the State of California, various cities and the county. His experience as City Attorney has already resulted in benefits for a number of clients doing business with, or litigating against different California government agencies.
Penman’s government practice includes administrative, board and Council hearings addressing planning, zoning, variances, elections, conflicts of interest, code compliance, civil penalty assessments, notices of pendency, liens, fines, various licenses, such as DMV, ABC (liquor,) entertainment, special licenses and license revocations, suspensions, and disciplinary proceedings (except physicians and lawyers.)
Penman’s business law practice includes contracts, leases, transactional issues, employee and labor/union matters, governmental regulations, civil rights, unlawful terminations, disciplinary actions and hearings, reinstatements, discrimination, harassment, hostile work environment and corporate law including shareholder issues, partnerships, sole proprietorship, etc.
Areas of Practice:
Over 50 percent of Penman’s cases in Redlands and San Bernardino involve government and/or administrative law of which approximately 46 percent are transactional issues, 31 percent employment/union/labor issues and 23 percent involve contracts of one kind or another.
Approximately 70 percent of the above-listed areas of Penman’s law practice involve cases that are currently in litigation or that may result in litigation.
Bar Admissions:
- California Bar Association (1980)
- Supreme Court of the United States (1991); Federal District and Appellate Courts
Education:
- Western State University College of Law (1979) – JD
- California State University San Bernardino (1969) – B.A.
Major: History
Professional Associations and Memberships:
- Member of the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States
- American Bar Association
- State Bar of California
- San Bernardino County Bar Association
- International Municipal Lawyers Association
- Lutheran Church of Our Savior
- Kiwanis Club of San Bernardino
- American Legion Post 777, San Bernardino;
- Anglo-Hellenic Progressive Association
- High Twelve (noon) Club, San Bernardino; Elks Lodge #836,
- San Bernardino; Archaeological Institute of America,
- The Smithsonian, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Regents’ Circle,
- George Washington’s Mount Vernon; Capitol Society,
- Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia; Civil War Roundtable, Redlands.
