Miller, Miller & Canby is pleased to announce James L. Thompson has been selected as the Senior Lawyer of the Year by the Maryland State Bar Association Senior Lawyer Section. Mr. Thompson’s distinguished career has spanned more than 45 years, during which he has served clients and the legal community. He concentrates his practice in eminent domain and real estate valuation litigation, as well as civil litigation involving complex real estate and commercial disputes. He has led the litigation practice group at Miller, Miller & Canby for more than 25 years.

Several notable cases of Mr. Thompson’s have set historic legal precedent, such as Mayor and City Council v. George Valsamaki, where he represented Mr. Valsamaki in the successful challenge to the quick-take condemnation of his establishment, the first successful taking challenge to a Baltimore City condemnation in history.

In addition to his legal work, Mr. Thompson has served the legal community at large by his participation with the county, state and national bar associations. He served as President of the Montgomery County Bar Association, President of the Maryland State Bar Association and was active in the American Bar Association with service in the House of Delegates. He currently serves on the Committee on Public Trust & Confidence, appointed by the Maryland Court of Appeals.

For his record of excellence and commitment to his profession he received the Daily Record’s Leadership in Law Award, the Montgomery County Bar Association’s Century of Service Award and the Federal Bar Association’s Peter D. Dirito Endowment Award, bestowed annually to recognize public service in the enhancement of the legal profession and the advancement of justice. He is a member of the American College of Trial Lawyers, has been a named Super Lawyer for the state of Maryland every year since 2007. He was also named Lawyer of the Year by Best Lawyers in 2013, in the area of Eminent Domain and Condemnation Law.

In 2011, Mr. Thompson traveled to Beijing with a group of scholars and attorneys to exchange ideas as a panelist at the Brigham Kanner Property Rights Conference. He has authored a variety of articles on eminent domain and has worked with the Maryland legislature to reform eminent domain laws and protect the rights of property owners. He served for 20 years as the Maryland member for the Owner’s Counsel of America (the current Maryland representative is his colleague at Miller, Miller & Canby, Joseph Suntum).

Mr. Thompson is a regular lecturer in national eminent domain litigation seminars, as well as in the state of Maryland where he has lectured in numerous CLE activities pertaining to trial work in a variety of practice areas. He speaks regularly at academic institutions throughout the state, including at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law and the University of Baltimore School of Law.

Mr. Thompson will receive his MSBA Senior Lawyer of the Year award at a ceremony on Sunday, May 6 in Timonium, Maryland.

About Miller, Miller & Canby

In 2016, Miller, Miller & Canby celebrated 70 years of serving the legal needs of metropolitan Washington, DC. As the oldest law firm in Montgomery County, MD, the firm recognizes that this milestone reflects the relationships built and maintained with our clients, friends and the business community, many spanning multiple generations. The firm focuses on five core areas of practice: Land Development, Real Estate, Litigation, Business and Tax, and Trusts, Estates and Elder Law. The firm has intentionally maintained a moderate size in order to ensure that all attorneys maintain close contact with our clients and have the opportunity to develop and foster trusted, lasting relationships. In all of our practice areas, an overarching concern for quality of product and efficiency of accomplishment assures clients that we strive for true value in legal representation. Miller, Miller & Canby is proud to have maintained this standard of service since the firm’s founding in 1946 and continues to abide by this standard every single day. For more information, visit www.millermillercanby.com.