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James Trainor, Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP Photo

James S. Trainor

Partner / New York

Overview

James S. Trainor is a partner in Nutter’s Litigation Department and a member of the IP Litigation practice group. He primarily focuses his practice on patent litigation, but also frequently represents clients in commercial, antitrust, and First Amendment-related litigation.

A dynamic litigator with substantial first-chair trial and appellate counsel experience, Jim protects clients in patent disputes. He advises clients on all stages of litigation, from pre-suit strategy to trial, and has defended clients’ rights before U.S. district courts and the USPTO. A well-respected advocate for his clients, Jim has received accolades as a leading patent litigator in Chambers USA, IAM Patent 1000, and LMG Life Sciences, with sources noting that he is an “outstanding partner who provides creative solutions to complex matters.”

Additionally, Jim advises clients on intellectual property matters, including technology licensing and strategic counseling. He assists corporations and private equity firms in navigating IP issues that arise during M&A and project finance transactions. Jim’s experience includes serving as lead IP counsel for the U.S. Department of Energy in the funding of a major solar initiative. Jim also regularly and successfully obtains provisional remedies for clients, notably cessation of auctions and aircraft seizures. He has also successfully represented multinational tech-centric clients at trial before the United States Tax Court.

Jim draws on his deep technical knowledge and industry experience to advise clients in numerous life sciences and technology fields, including:

  • Small molecules
  • Biologics
  • Medical devices
  • Drug delivery
  • Text- and image-based AI applications/platforms across tech sectors
  • Other software and e-commerce, including network systems and database management systems (DBMS)
  • Solar and wind power
  • Transit engineering and urban planning
  • Environmental management
  • Cosmetics

Jim maintains an active pro bono practice. He has served on the advisory board for the Rett Syndrome Research Trust, the largest worldwide funder of Rett Syndrome research. He also notably represented the Animal Legal Defense Fund before the New York Court of Appeals in the widely-reported and seminal case concerning zoo-housed animals’ right to habeas corpus, in The Nonhuman Rights Project, Inc. v. Breheny et al.

Jim is a distinguished alumnus of Suffolk Law School, where he continues to actively serve as a member of the Dean’s Cabinet. He is also a prominent and proud supporter of athletics at his alma mater, Tufts University, where he played and captained the NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey team as an undergraduate.

Prior to joining Nutter, Jim was a partner at Fenwick. Before that, he was a litigation partner in the IP group at White & Case.

News & Insights

Honors

Honors

  • Chambers USA, Leading U.S. Intellectual Property: Patent Attorney, 2021 – 2025
  • IAM Patent 1000, 2020-2025
  • LMG Life Sciences, General Patent Litigation and Hatch-Waxman Patent Litigation, 2022
  • Managing IP, “Patent Star,” 2023
  • Super Lawyers, Metro New York, 2013-2018, 2022-2025

Education & Admissions

Education

Suffolk University Law School, J.D., Law Review
Tufts University, B.S.C.E.

Admissions

  • Massachusetts
  • New York
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
  • U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
  • U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

In the Community

Jim maintains an active pro bono practice. He has served on the advisory board for the Rett Syndrome Research Trust, the largest worldwide funder of Rett Syndrome research. He also notably represented the Animal Legal Defense Fund before the New York Court of Appeals in the widely-reported and seminal case concerning zoo-housed animals’ right to habeas corpus, in The Nonhuman Rights Project, Inc. v. Breheny et al.

Jim is a distinguished alumnus of Suffolk Law School, where he continues to actively serve as a member of the Dean’s Cabinet. He is also a prominent and proud supporter of athletics at his alma mater, Tufts University, where he played and captained the NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey team as an undergraduate.

Noteworthy

  • Chambers USA, Leading U.S. Intellectual Property: Patent Attorney, 2021 – 2025
  • IAM Patent 1000, 2020-2025
  • LMG Life Sciences, General Patent Litigation and Hatch-Waxman Patent Litigation, 2022
  • Managing IP, “Patent Star,” 2023
  • Super Lawyers, Metro New York, 2013-2018, 2022-2025
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