Jim Walden A trial lawyer fighting for every New Yorker.
A Career Holding Power Accountable.
A nationally recognized trial lawyer and former federal prosecutor who has spent his career holding powerful institutions accountable, Jim is the Chairman of NYC Common Sense.
Across his more than 20-year career in private practice, Jim has built one of New York City's premier litigation boutiques while taking on some of the city's most consequential challenges. He forced the Department of Education to protect bullied schoolchildren, secured $250 million in emergency repairs for over 400,000 NYCHA residents, stopped illegal parkland transfers in Manhattan and Brooklyn, successfully challenged gerrymandered district maps, restored food assistance to thousands of impoverished New Yorkers, protected hundreds of thousands of city retirees from healthcare cuts, and saved emergency care in Southern Brooklyn when SUNY moved to close a critical hospital.
Previously, Jim served as Assistant U.S. Attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice in the Eastern District of New York, where he worked closely with federal agents and NYPD officers. Focusing on organized crime, his investigations led to more than 100 convictions — including members of all five New York crime families and one of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives. He helped to solve 25 cold-case homicides.
A Brooklynite, Jim earned his Bachelor of Arts from Hamilton College and graduated magna cum laude from Temple University Law School.