About Jim
The only Alaskan to lead an AmLaw 200 law firm, Jim Torgerson served as Stoel’s Firm Managing Partner for four years before returning to his full-time, Alaska-based litigation practice in 2020. Over the last 35 years, Jim has tried to conclusion more than 40 cases, most to federal or state juries. He has handled more than 35 appeals, arguing cases in the Alaska Supreme Court and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
“Jim Torgerson is the best at what he does” and “I would use Jim in a heartbeat on any litigation matter” report sources in Chambers and Partners’ annual survey of America’s best attorneys for business. Best Lawyers® selected Jim as Anchorage’s 2023 “Lawyer of the Year” in three areas: Litigation—Environmental, Litigation—Real Estate, and Professional Malpractice Law—Defendants. In the past, Best Lawyers® has selected Jim as Anchorage’s “Lawyer of the Year” in Bet-the-Company Litigation—2022; Litigation—Environmental—2012, 2016, 2018 and 2020; Litigation—Mergers and Acquisitions—2017 and 2019; and Litigation—Real Estate—2015. Super Lawyers has selected Jim as one of the “Top 10” lawyers in Alaska every year since 2011.
Jim’s practice reflects Alaska. For decades, he’s represented Alaska Native corporations in a wide variety of commercial disputes and governance issues. Given Alaska’s economy, he regularly appears for clients in natural resources industries, ranging from property disputes, to tax and environmental litigation. Drawing on his experience in the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Alaska, where he was chief of the civil division (four years) and chief of the criminal division (two years), much of his practice is in federal court.
Jim also has been active in the Alaska Bar and Alaska’s nonprofit community, He recently served for six years on the constitutionally created Alaska Judicial Council, which reviews sitting judges and screens judicial applicants, and before that represented the Federal Court for the District of Alaska for almost a decade on the Congressionally created Alaska Rural Justice and Law Enforcement Committee. In 2016, Jim was awarded the Jay Rabinowitz Public Service Award, and in 2004 he was honored, along with his wife, as Outstanding Philanthropists of the Year by the Alaska Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.
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