After graduation, James began working as a process engineer for Lion Oil Company at its El Dorado refinery. In 1999, he moved to Houston and worked as a process engineer at the Lyondell-Citgo Refinery in Houston, TX. He then began law school classes at the University of Houston, from which he graduated in 2003. He began working as an attorney at the international law firm of Jones Day in Houston, where he practiced commercial and intellectual property litigation. He then moved to Wong Cabello, an intellectual property boutique also in Houston. He and other partners of Wong Cabello subsequently joined the national law firm of Blank Rome.

In 2019, he and two partners started the intellectual property litigation boutique of Cabello Hall Zinda, where he focuses on patent and trademark litigation and in administrative patent trials before the US Patent Office’s Patent Trial and Appeals Board. He and his wife Kara (née Eldred), also a graduate from our department, reside in Humble, TX. They have two children, Abby and Luke. Abby recently graduated from the University of Texas with a degree in neuroscience with plans to attend medical school. Luke will graduate from high school in May 2025 and plans to pursue a degree in petroleum engineering.

Arkansas Academy of Chemical Engineers, 2025.