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James A. Kowalski, Jr. was named the Executive Director (now
President and CEO) of Jacksonville Area Legal Aid in December 2012. Prior to
taking the post at JALA, he was a civil trial attorney based in Jacksonville,
Florida, specializing in consumer protection litigation, including wrongful
foreclosure and consumer fraud, complex personal injury, wrongful death, and
premises liability litigation. He has earned a rating of AV (Preeminent). Mr.
Kowalski is licensed to practice law in Florida and California and has lived and
worked in the Jacksonville area since moving to Florida from Northern California
in 1989, after graduating from the University of California, Berkeley, and the
University of San Francisco School of Law. Mr. Kowalski served as an Assistant
State Attorney from 1989-1996, acting as Division Chief (County Court; Public
Corruption Unit) and Senior Trial Attorney in the Special Assault/Sex Crimes and
ROC (Repeat Offender Court) Divisions; he was also a member of the on-call
homicide team.
After leaving the State Attorney’s Office in 1996, Mr. Kowalski specialized
in litigation and handled matters involving consumer protection, including
wrongful foreclosure and consumer fraud, complex personal injury, wrongful
death, and premises liability litigation. He has tried more than 60 jury trials to
verdict.
Mr. Kowalski has presented numerous lectures in the area of consumer
fraud and housing, including presentations on mortgage foreclosure and debt
collection litigation and on issues relating to crime victimization, including the
use of victim impact testimony in death penalty cases. He is a member of the
National Association of Consumer Advocates, the Child Protection Team (CPT)
Advisory Council, has served on the board of Compassionate Families, Inc., a
Jacksonville non-profit dedicated to assisting the families of homicide victims,
and is the past vice-chair of the Mayor’s Victim’s Assistance Advisory Council
(VAAC). He is a recipient of the Jacksonville Legal Aid Pro Bono award for 2006
and 2008, the St. Johns County Legal Aid Pro Bono award for 2009, 2010, 2011,
and 2012, and the Florida Bar President’s Pro Bono Service Award in 2009 and
2011, for service rendered in the Fourth and Seventh Judicial Circuits. Mr.
Kowalski recently finished consecutive one-year terms (2014-2015 and
2015-2016) as President of the Project Director’s Association, which includes the
directors of the civil legal aid programs in Florida.
In December 2010, Mr. Kowalski testified before the United States House
of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary on the topic of “Foreclosed
Justice: Causes and Effects of the Foreclosure Crisis.” He also testified before the
Florida Senate Committee on Banking and Insurance in 2010, and testified at
length before the Florida Supreme Court Task Force on Residential Mortgage
Foreclosure Cases in 2009.
In 2011, Mr. Kowalski was named “Consumer Protection Lawyer of the
Year” by the Consumer Protection Law Committee of the Florida Bar and was
recognized at the Florida Bar’s Annual Conference “For outstanding work
protecting the legal rights of Floridians facing foreclosure and helping fellow
practitioners of consumer law.” He is the recipient of the 2014 Peter E. Haas
Public Service Award from the University of California, Berkeley, for his
advancement of legal rights “…for the most vulnerable members of the
community, ranging from adults and children who have suffered from a violent
crime to those who have been victims of predatory lending and collection
practices.” In June 2016, Mr. Kowalski received the Florida Bar Foundation
President’s Award for Excellence, in part, for his “…unwavering commitment to
improving the delivery of legal aid throughout the state…”
In November 2014, Mr. Kowalski was selected by Florida Supreme Court
Chief Justice Jorge Labarga as one of 27 inaugural members of the Florida
Commission on Access to Civil Justice, charged with studying the unmet civil
legal needs of disadvantaged, low-income and moderate-income Floridians. He
is also a current member of the Florida Courts Technology Commission.