About James
James was born and raised in Lander, Wyoming. He graduated from Lander Valley High School. He graduated from Brigham Young University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology.
Professionally, James has worked as a state public defender since 2008. During law school he was a research assistant for law professors at the University of Wyoming Law School. During his third year of law school he served as the student director of the UW Legal Services Clinic. Upon graduating from the University of Wyoming Law School with a Juris Doctor degree in 2003, he clerked for 9th District Court Judges Norman E. Young and Nancy J. Guthrie until 2005. He worked as a Deputy County Attorney from 2005 until 2008. He opened his private law practice, Whiting Law, P.C., in 2008.
James was appointed by Governor Freudenthal to serve on the State of Wyoming's Juvenile Justice Panel beginning in 2009, and has been re-appointed by Governor Matt Mead to continue on that panel. He has also served as the secretary of his local Rotary organization a as a member of the Lander Valley Youth Soccer Association Board. His past volunteer experience includes being a member of the Children's Justice Project for the Wyoming Supreme Court, a member of the Elder Abuse Prevention Training Team, a management team member of the Fremont County Juvenile Drug Court Team, and a foster parent for the State of Wyoming and the State of Utah. He has also served as president of the Fremont County Bar Association. In 2013, James was sworn in as a District Court Commissioner, which means that he can act in the place of the District Judge if the judge is unable to hear a matter. He can also perform weddings, oversee juvenile detention/shelter care hearings, mental incompetency hearings, and take evidence, make findings, and report to the court. In 2013 he was honored by both the American Institute of Family Law Attorneys and the National Academy of Family Law Attorneys with their Nationally Ranked Top Ten Attorney Award for excellence in the field of family law. In 2017 James was elected as a Wyoming State Bar Commissioner to represent the 9th Judicial District for a three year term, and was re-elected in 2020. And in 2018 he was appointed to the panel to consider the reappointment of Federal Magistrate Judge Teresa McKee. In 2018 he also joined the Lander City Chamber of Commerce as a board member for a three year term.
James and his wife Camille have eight children -- six boys and two girls, and three grandsons. He is an Eagle Scout and has been involved in the scouting program for most of his life. He and Camille are pleased to call Lander their home.
