James C. Shah is a partner of Shepherd, Finkelman, Miller & Shah, LLP and focuses his practice on the prosecution of complex class and commercial litigation. A significant portion his practice during the past 18 years has related to consumer class actions, including automotive defect cases. James is also actively involved in litigating ERISA, wage and hour, and qui tam matters. In addition to contingent matters, he also represents a significant number of commercial clients in hourly litigation, including many international companies. James earned an undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University of Oregon (1990) and a law degree from Temple University School of Law (1994). James began his career as a litigator in Philadelphia with Pelino & Lentz, P.C. In April 2000, he joined with Scott Shepherd and began building a firm, which now has more than 20 attorneys and offices in six states.
During the past several years, James has been actively involved in initiating and litigating cases against manufacturers who placed engines with faulty emissions technology into the marketplace. He served as co-lead class counsel in a vigorously contested MDL against Caterpillar, Inc, which resulted in a common fund settlement of $60 million. (In re: Caterpillar, Inc., C13 and C15 Engine Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2540 (D.N.J.) (Hon. Chief Judge Jerome B. Simandle).) James also served as co-lead counsel in an action against Mitsubishi Fuso Truck of America, Inc., involving claims that the diesel engines on approximately 10,000 trucks were equipped with defective emissions control technology. (
Q+Food v. Mitsubishi Fuso Truck of America, Inc. (D.N.J.), 3:14-cv-06046 (Hon. Douglas E. Arpert).) That action resulted in a $17.5 million common fund settlement. In addition, James is co-lead plaintiff’s counsel in Rodman v. Safeway Inc., (N.D. Ca.), 3:11-cv-03003 (Hon. Jon S. Tigar), where plaintiff obtained certification of nationwide class of individuals who asserted that they had been overcharged for groceries delivered to their homes and also obtained summary judgment on liability, as well as a $43 million damages judgment, which was recently upheld by the Ninth Circuit.
James is a member of the American Association for Justice, Public Justice and the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association. In addition, he is an active member of IAG International (Integrated Advisory Group), http://www.iaginternational.org, a consortium of independent law, fiduciary trust and accounting firms in Asia, Canada, Central America, Europe, the Middle East, South America and the United States.