James K. Vucinovich

James K. Vucinovich
Bellevue, WA

Phone: (425) 646-8003 ext. 1004
Toll-Free: 866-357-RAIL (7245)
Fax: (425) 646-8004
Email: jvucinovich@rvflegal.com

Jim Vucinovich is President and Managing Partner of the Firm, and a nationally-recognized FELA attorney with over 20 years of committed representation of injured railroad workers and their families.  He is also a UTU Union Designated Legal Counsel.

Jim has successfully litigated and settled hundreds of FELA and serious personal injury claims, including catastrophic brain injury, amputations, toxic exposure and wrongful death.  Early in his career, he recognized the railroads failed to protect their workers’ hearing and set up a comprehensive program to identify and evaluate current and former railroad workers suffering from hearing loss.  He represented over 3,000 claimants whose hearing was damaged by the railroad’s long-standing neglect.  The railroads paid millions in settlements after being forced to accept responsibility for their negligence and have since instituted employee hearing conservation programs.

Jim consistently wins significant verdicts and settlements for his clients, among them:

• $1.83 million verdict for BNSF engineer left with severe and chronic pain (Denver, CO)
• $1.5 million settlement for dram shop case (Spokane, WA)
• $12 million settlement for serious brain injury case
• $4 million settlement for toxic exposure
• $3.4 million verdict for a UP conductor for shoulder and ankle injuries (Los Angeles, CA)
• $2.7 million settlement for crush injury
• $1.425 million verdict for a UP engineer for shoulder injury (Denver, CO)
• $1 million verdict for a UP conductor for neck injuries (Denver, CO)
• $872,000 verdict for a BNSF conductor for shoulder and back injuries (Seattle, WA)

He successfully represented railroad employees in the following reported cases:

• Haworth v. Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Ry. Co., 281 F.Supp.2d 1207 (E.D. Wash., Aug.19, 2003)(NO. CS02-0344-JLQ) (Locomotive Inspection Action violation);
• Reinsch V. Union Pacific R. Co., 12 F.Supp.2d 1136, 162 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2569 (D.Colo., Jun 16, 1998)(NO. CIV. A. 98-B-952)(Employee's right to resist railroad medical evaluation); and
• McGinn v. Burlington Northern R. Co., 102 F.3d 295 (7th Cir. (I11), Dec 12, 1996)(NO.96-1685)(Locomotive Inspection Act).

Jim is licensed in Washington, Oregon, Minnesota and Colorado.  He is admitted to multiple federal district courts throughout the Midwest and west, and the 7th and 9th Circuit Courts of Appeal.  He regularly tries cases throughout the western United States, and has handled FELA cases in over 20 states. Jim is AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbel, the highest rating it awards. He is a Board Member of the Academy of Rail Labor Attorneys (ARLA), a professional association open only to attorneys whose practice includes representation of injured railroad employees in cases filed under the FELA.

Jim is a member of the American Association for Justice and a current officer of the American Association for Justice Highway Grade Committee.  The Minnesota Trial Lawyers Association designated him a Board Certified Trial Specialist in 2004. 

Jim graduated from William Mitchell College of Law where he wrote for the Law Review.  He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree (cum laude) from St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota.