James E. “Jim” Coleman Jr., of the firm of Carrington, Coleman, Sloman & Blumenthal, passed away Feb. 22 in Dallas. He was 96. In a career spanning more than six decades, he was a role model and mentor to countless attorneys, a trusted adviser to his clients, a gifted and successful trial lawyer, and a tireless advocate who upheld the legal profession’s highest standards.. “I love being a lawyer because the law is the most beautiful thing you can do. It is about helping people,” he told Texas Lawbook in a 2013 profile published on the eve of his 90th birthday.

Coleman enlisted in the U.S. Army following the attack on Pearl Harbor, rising to the rank of second lieutenant. As a platoon leader in Gen. George Patton’s Third Army, he earned the Silver Star for gallantry in action in the historic march through Europe. Buoyed by the G.I. Bill, he completed his undergraduate degree at Georgia Tech in 1948. He graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1951, shortly before receiving orders to report for deployment to Korea. Unknown to him at the time, the orders were actually from the Central Intelligence Agency, where he remained until 1953. When he left the agency, he turned down the opportunity to join Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan, the Atlanta-based law firm that his father-in-law, William Sutherland, helped to found. He instead opted to move his young family to Texas, joining Carrington, Gowan, Johnson & Walker, and then opening its successor firm, Carrington Coleman on Jan. 1, 1970.

This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.

To view this content, please continue to their sites.

Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Why am I seeing this?

LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.

For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]