Attorney Bentz is a Partner of Bentz Law Firm, P.C. He joined the firm after a sixteen-year career at one of the largest law firms in the world where he practiced as an equity partner in the business trials, financial services and insurance coverage groups. Mr. Bentz is a civil trial lawyer with more than 30 years of federal and state litigation experience.

Jim has tried large business litigation cases in Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia, and Texas courts, and has appeared in or managed large and small cases throughout the United States. He has also argued appeals in numerous federal and state appellate courts. Jim defends and prosecutes a wide variety of business cases on behalf of sureties, financial services companies, manufacturers, retailers, contractors, professional service firms, property owners and other businesses. His business litigation experience includes:

- Representation of companies in general business litigation involving breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, RICO, trade secrets, restrictive covenants, intentional interference with contractual relations, business torts, and broker-dealer and vendor relations.

- Representation of sureties in all aspects of construction cases.

- Numerous cases involving investigation and litigation of fidelity claims, including employee theft.

- Managing and coordinating the defense of consumer finance lawsuits brought as individual claims and class actions across the country on behalf of financial institutions involving wrongful foreclosure, loan servicing errors, and violations of TILA, HOEPA and other federal and state lending laws.

- Representation of financial institutions in lender liability actions involving complex financing transactions, and seeking millions of dollars in alleged damages.

- Representation of property or construction project owners in negotiation and litigation of disputes with their contractors and/or lenders.

- Representation of policy-holding manufacturers and financial institutions in prosecution of their claims for coverage under insurance policies; these matters have involved coverage under CGL and D&O policies, among others, and insurance proceeds of millions to tens of millions of dollars.

- Prosecution of securities claims on behalf of institutional trustees and custodians holding securities, and counseling those entities on class actions and class members’ rights.

- Cases based on alleged property damage that have sought alleged damages from hundreds of thousands to hundreds of millions of dollars; these property damage cases have been brought by private owners as well as states, municipalities, hospitals and non-profit corporations, and have involved the construction of schools, hospitals, dormitories, office buildings, manufacturing facilities, residences of class members and other types of buildings.

- Representation of manufacturers of building components in large product liability lawsuits brought and/or tried as individual or class actions.

- Actions consolidating thousands of individual personal injury cases and unconsolidated individual cases involving exposure to various toxic substances.

Jim graduated with honors from the University of Michigan with a Bachelors in Business Administration and cum laude from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where he served as Executive Editor of the Law Review and was admitted as a member of the Order of the Coif.

Jim is admitted to practice in all courts of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the United States District Courts for the Western and Middle District of Pennsylvania, and the United States Courts of Appeals for the Third, Fourth and Tenth Circuits. Jim has presented seminars on various litigation related topics, served as a legal writing instructor, and been responsible for evaluating and tutoring associate attorneys in a large law firm. His volunteer work has included efforts to enhance and promote the local business community. He is a past President and board member of the South Hills Chamber of Commerce and serves on the Board of the Mt. Lebanon Partnership.