I give each of my clients my full, personal attention to ensure the best results.
- Jim Dugan
Jim’s Start
Jim (James) Dugan has deep roots in Lake County and has long been dedicated to Lake County’s service. Currently a resident of Madison Township, Jim was raised in Willowick, son of Dick and Jean Dugan. Dick was a 38 year sports cartoonist for the Plain Dealer, entertaining Cleveland into 1999, mostly with his versions of the Cleveland Indian, Brownie, and Cavalier. Jim and his siblings are all graduates of North High School in Eastlake, and Jim was inducted into the Willoughby Eastlake Schools’ Hall of Fame in 1991 for his scholastic accomplishments.
After graduating from North High School in 1972, Jim attended Princeton University, where he was on the football team and graduated in 1976 with a B.A. in Politics. Jim then studied law at the Cleveland Marshall College of Law graduating in 1980 and was admitted to the Ohio Bar in the same year.
Law Career
Jim is on his 41st year practicing law, starting his career in 1981 at the Lake County Public Defender’s Office, then working as a Referee at the Lake County Juvenile Court for Judge Richard Hoose from 1985 to 1988. Jim was in private practice with Greene, Tulley, and Jurjans in Willoughby, until 1991 then was in-house counsel for the Cafaro Company, a shopping mall developer in Youngstown, until 1995.
In 1995, Jim moved back to Lake County to Perry Village, and joined the Lake County Prosecuter’s Office as an Assistant Prosecutor. Over his time at the Prosecutors Office, Jim has represented the Lake County Commissioners in many noteworthy cases, helping to bring millions of dollars into Lake County, including the acquisition of the water system for Perry Village, a suit over defective water pumps at the Mentor Waste Water Treatment Plant, and challenges to the real estate tax value of the Eastlake Coal Plant and the Perry Nuclear Power Plant.