James B. Reed

James B. Reed joined Udall Shumway PLC in 2019 and focuses his practice in the area of Construction Law and General Commercial Litigation. In the area of General Commercial Litigation, Mr. Reed has handled lawsuits involving state and federal bonded projects, lien rights on private projects, Uniform Commercial Code secured remedy enforcement actions, prejudgment writs of attachment/temporary restraining orders for corporate asset transfers, loan recourse agreements, commercial real estate transactions, fraudulent transfer actions, civil RICO defenses, breach of partnership and LLC agreements, and commercial letters of credit.

Mr. Reed served on the Arizona Contractors Association Legislative Committee and is currently a member of the Arizona State Bar Construction Law Section, and has written articles for local trade journals on lien and bond rights and construction industry economic forecasts. He has lectured on lien and bond rights and credit application drafting at the National Association of Credit Managers Southwest Construction Law Conference for the past ten years, including serving as featured Industry Day construction law lecturer for the 2004 NACM National Congress.

On his time off, Mr. Reed is a guest lecturer at Arizona State University’s School of Life Sciences on Epidemiology and the Law.  He has presented lectures on the Americans with Disabilities Act at the Columbia University School of Social Work in New York City and at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston. He has appeared on CSPAN TV and radio multiple times, including at the National Press Club in Washington DC.  Mr. Reed performs federal election day polling site observation, and was a field attorney during the 2000 Presidential Election Recount for Washington County, Florida.  He has been a contributing Editorial Opinion Columnist in the Arizona Republic, including the 2016 Election Day Special Edition.

Mr. Reed is committed to the arts.  He writes creatively, and earned a coveted “third read” with a recent submission in the Nicholl Fellowship Screenwriting competition for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Mr. Reed is a supporter of the Brooklyn Academy of Music and joined the cast in Epidaurus, Greece and Brooklyn, New York for final productions of THE BRIDGE PROJECT’S three year tour joined by cast members from The Old Vic in   London.  Mr. Reed has one of the larger Charles Schultz/Bill Melendez “Peanuts Gang” lithograph collections in the Valley, currently on display in his Udall Shumway PLC office.

Practice Areas

• Construction Law
• General Commercial Litigation

Education

• J. D., Columbia University (1988)
• B. S., University of Kansas (1985)

Jurisdictions Admitted to Practice

• Arizona State Court
• U.S. District Court, District of Arizona
• U.S. Supreme Court
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
• U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals
• U.S. Court of Federal Claims
• Past admissions pro hac vice – California, Nevada and Pennsylvania

Professional & Bar Association Memberships

• State Bar of Arizona Ethics Committee (2015-2018)
• State Bar of Arizona Appointments Committee (2009-2015
• State Bar of Arizona Courthouse Accessibility Subcommittee, Chair (2002-2007)
• United States Access Board, Courthouse Access Advisory Committee, Education and outreach Subcommittee – Co-Chair
• Arizona Chapter of the National Association of Credit Managers, and successor, Southwest Business Credit Services – Member and Lecturer (2004-present)

Representative Cases

• Judgment dismissing a $26 million fraud and civil RICO action, involving the Lake Havasu City electrical code and design requirements, plus 100% attorney fee award, upheld on appeal by Arizona’s Court of Appeals
• Judgment for more than $1 million against Golf Illustrated Magazine for breach of contract and successful garnishment of Bank One Arizona, NA, for more than $100,000, upheld on appeal by the Arizona’s Court of   Appeals and Arizona Supreme Court
• Judgment in federal court against Social Security Administration with Arizona U.S. Attorney Civil Division Chief defending
• Trial in U.S. District Court bankruptcy court finding non-dischargeable fraud by the debtor
• Trial in Superior Court for violation of Arizona’s Fraudulent Conveyances Act with the Court finding a transfer of assets from a limited liability company to insiders
• Summary judgment in favor of fixed base operator at the Lake Havasu City Airport, plus 100% attorney fee award
• Defeated substantial damages claims by a Philadelphia Walmart against a paint manufacturer for claims of materials failure
• Successful claim for equipment rental rights in Harkins Theatres construction in Flagstaff, Arizona
• Successful claim for excavation contract breach for the Flagstaff High School renovation
• Successful breach of contract claim for the general contractor for a Paradise Valley Danny’s Family Carousel construction
• Successful payment bond disputed-claim representations against White Sands Missile Base and Davis Monthan Air Base
• Successful workout of mechanic’s lien claim for six thousand doors installed at Wynn Resort and Casino in Las Vegas
• Numerous large-scale phased housing mechanic’s lien representations against many of the largest homebuilders in Arizona, California and Nevada
• Successful substantial unjust enrichment recovery on behalf of materials supplier for Harkins Camelview Theaters construction at Scottsdale Fashion Mall
• Multiple successful public payment bond claims on behalf of concrete supplier to Pima County and Tucson highway repairs and extensions
• Multiple successful bond claims for recent $590 million Terminal 3 modernization at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport
• Substantial recovery for materials supplier for high dollar, single-endorsement joint checks fraud against supplier and deposit bank
• Successful payment bond claims for the $2.4 billion Terminal 3 construction at the Las Vegas McCarren International Airport, the largest public works project in the state of Nevada
• Won appeal in Nevada State Supreme Court in 1998, establishing the “joint check rule” affecting every subsequent construction project in Nevada
• Won three week trial against U.S. Department of Justice for ATF undercover agent Jay Dobyns, currently on petition to U.S. Supreme Court appeal following vacated judgment on legal grounds by Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, with the case covered by AP Wire Service, CNN, THE WASHINGTON POST, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, and on the front page of the Arizona Republic on three occasions
• Quoted in the national daily law publication “Law360” for amicus brief filed on behalf of economics professors in the mammoth pharmaceutical antitrust case Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. v. Warner Chilcott
• Drafted and advised on all policy, including pension and health insurance platforms, for Morgan Fairchild’s 2005 campaign for president of the Screen Actors Guild
• Negotiated film and television documentary deals and life rights sales with TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX Films and BBC International
• Represented documentary film clients whose clips appeared on OPRAH, NIGHTLINE, CNN and DR. PHIL
• Represented groundbreaking iPod speaker company Mstation Audio during the endorsement deal with NBA’s Carmelo Anthony and during contract negotiations during the successful deal with Microsoft’s ZUNE