A fourth-generation Oregonian, James K. Walsh graduated from the University of Oregon in 1979 and served four years as an active duty officer in the U.S. Army. He attained the rank of Major in the Army Reserve.

Mr. Walsh graduated from Willamette University College of Law where he received the High Paper Award in Insurance Law. He passed the Oregon bar exam in 1986 and served as a judicial law clerk in the Lane County Circuit Court for a year. In 1988, he joined the Lane County District Attorney's office where he became the District Court Supervisor. Mr. Walsh supervised six attorneys and appeared in court almost daily. He tried approximately 80 criminal cases to jury verdict during his four and one-half years in the D.A.'s office.

In 1992, Mr. Walsh joined William Wiswall and began to specialize in the trial and settlement of insurance-related injury and death claims. In 1994, the firm became Wiswall & Walsh, P.C. and retained its focus on insurance-related claims. In 1999, as co-counsel with Mr. Wiswall, Mr. Walsh obtained a multi-million dollar trial verdict in the Lane County Circuit Court. The verdict was one of the largest trial verdicts in Lane County history.

Mr. Walsh is a member of the American Trial Lawyers Association and the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association. He serves on the arbitration panels of the Circuit Court in Lane and Douglas counties.