Jim focuses his practice on complex civil litigation, governmental investigations, and white collar defense. Prior to joining Wyche, he served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of South Carolina from 2012 to 2021. He was named Senior Litigation Counsel in 2018 and held that position until his departure.

While with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Jim handled complex criminal prosecutions of bank, health care, and securities fraud, along with public corruption matters. He coordinated the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s examination of fraudulent Securities and Regulatory filings, made by executives of SCANA and other companies related to the abandonment of construction of a nuclear power plant in South Carolina. This investigation resulted in guilty pleas by the CEO and COO of SCANA and a Vice President of Westinghouse, also he led negotiations of obtaining more than $4 billion of ratepayer relief.

Jim also served as the lead and coordinating attorney for prosecutions across 20 federal districts for Operation Brace Yourself, an international health care fraud investigation. He teamed with the Department of Justice’s Healthcare Fraud Taskforce and the FBI to investigate and prosecute the transnational kickback scheme. Operation Brace Yourself was the largest single health care fraud investigation in FBI history, producing more than 150 convictions and over $1 billion in restitution.

Before joining the U.S. Attorney’s office, Jim was an assistant public defender for the Richland County (SC) Public Defender’s Office from 2007 to 2012, during which time he represented more than 1,800 clients. May obtained not guilty verdicts on numerous trials ranging from murder to drug trafficking to firearms charges.