James L. Kauffman

James L. Kauffman concentrates his practice on representing consumers in complex business litigation and class actions in the areas of consumer protection, business litigation, and securities. For over 20 years, James has represented consumers and investors in a wide variety of disputes across the country. He has served as lead counsel in dozens of class actions involving consumer protection and illegal debt collection which has helped hundreds of thousands of consumers.

James is a consumer rights advocate and focuses on protecting the public from junk fees.  Most recently, James has successfully represented hundreds of thousands of consumers nationwide who were charged illegal fees junk in “pay to pay” schemes – where consumers must pay an extra fee just for paying their bills. Collectors call these “convenience fees” but usually these fees are for paying electronically, which is usually more convenient and economical for the collector than the consumer paying the extra fee.

In addition to his landmark work in the “pay to pay” field, James notably represented shareholders in one of the largest securities litigation matters in history, In re Initial Public Offerings Security Litigation (21 MC 92) (SDNY), a case that involved 309 tech-bubble IPOs and 55 investment brokerage defendants and recovered $586 million.

James regularly speaks at business tort seminars across the country and on nationally syndicated radio and television shows, where he covers topics such as financial industry regulation, consumer fraud, ERISA, and whistleblower protection.

James is a member of Public Justice, the Florida Bar Association, the Arkansas Bar Association, and the American Association of Justice (AAJ).

He is also actively involved in the community and provides pro bono legal services to Laugh for Sight, a non-profit organization that raises money for eye disease research through comedy benefits in Los Angeles and New York City.

Awards & Accolades

2025 Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers

Government Service / Previous Employment

• Financial Advisor, Morgan Stanley (1999)

Representative Matters

• Obtained $19.8 million recovery of employees’ retirement benefits from trustee and individual officers of a closely held private company
• Represented a borrower challenging estimated attorney’s fees tacked onto his mortgage loan in Prescott v. Seterus, a case that involved two separate appeals to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit; work resulted in two significant appellate opinions that strengthened nationwide consumer debt collection law and led to industry-wide reform, and this precedent paved the way for several recoveries for borrowers from their banks or loan servicers where James served as class counsel
• Obtained $586 million recovery for shareholders against 309 IPO companies and 55 investment banks in one of the largest securities fraud litigations in history
• Obtained $20 million recovery for shareholders against semiconductor supplier company in connection with the backdating of employee stock option grants
• Represented shareholders against certain officers and directors who participated in a massive Medicare fraud. Resulted in significant corporate reforms and removal of CEO, CFO and General Counsel

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