Jim Lofton Adjunct Professor of Law

Phone: 540-383-1989

Email: jlofton@wlu.edu

Office: Judges' Chambers, Lewis Hall

Areas of Expertise/Classes Taught

Trial Advocacy Practicum

Education

BA, Virginia Military Institute

JD, University of Richmond

About

Jim Lofton spent nearly 30 years as an attorney for the U.S. government. He worked for 27 years at the U.S. Department of Justice trying and managing complex cases in federal court and then three years as the Assistant Chief Counsel for Airports & Environmental Law at the Federal Aviation Administration. As part of his duties at the FAA, Jim directed the legal training program for the Office of Chief Counsel, providing legal training for approximately 200 FAA lawyers nationwide.

Jim's teaching experience is varied. In addition to teaching at the Justice Department's National Advocacy Center for many years, Jim has completed a number of assignments outside the United States. These include a year as an Atlantic Fellow in Public Policy at Cambridge University; two semesters as a Fulbright Scholar and Visiting Professor of Law at the State University of Tetova and South East European University in North Macedonia teaching trial advocacy and rule of law in 2021-22; a semester teaching as a Fulbright Scholar at Bilkent University School of Law in Ankara, Turkey, and a semester as a Legal Specialist with the ABA Rule of Law Initiative teaching trial advocacy at five law schools in Ukraine.

He is scheduled to return to the Balkans in the spring of 2026 as a Fulbright Specialist at Tetova University and South East European University.

Most recently, he was retained as a consultant to the Special Parliamentary Committee of the Albanian Parliament where he assisted in developing the Rule of Law Pillar for the National Action Plan, designed to accelerate Albania's accession to the European Union.

As a Justice Department trial attorney, Jim received numerous awards, including the General Counsel's Award from the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, several gold medals from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Justice Department's John Marshall Award, the Department's highest award for contributions and excellence in legal performance. In 2015, he was named the Government Attorney of the Year by the American Bar Association Section on Environment, Energy and Resources.