James was founded in 1981 to provide more practical law books than the treatises that then dominated the market.

Low prices

     In the ‘90’s, expanding conglomerate ownership triggered an increase in profits-first business practices among the majors, which have continued to this day in the form of aggressive annual price hikes.  Single volumes costing over $200 are now common throughout the industry. 

     We prefer efficiency over price increases, and that choice has resulted in the vast majority of our single volumes remaining at $99 and our two-volume sets at $129.  We hope to continue those price points for many more years.

Excellent customer service

     We like to reach a live and helpful voice when we have a customer problem, and believe that should always be the case when you call James during business hours. 

     As a result, (1) James has no phone maze to wade through, (2) we are staffed so that you should rarely-to-never encounter any hold time, and (3) our customer service people average over 8 years of experience and are empowered to solve problems without restriction.

A second purpose

     In 2003, we read about a caring gentleman named Aziz Aslami who returned to his homeland of Afghanistan after the Taliban fell to found an elementary school for orphans.  We asked him if he could build a second one with our money.  That second school grew to 195 students, and its success encouraged us to invest in other charitable projects. 

     In 2004, we formed a private foundation we call Kids Inc and formally dedicated 1% of our revenues to helping needy youth.  Its projects are listed at Our Foundation.

A third mission?

     Our Kids Inc work has been rewarding and inspirational.  We now wonder whether all of our future business investments can contain a strong do-good element.   

     We are off to a good start.  In 2006, we purchased a publisher of social service directories, and in 2007 we acquired a supplier of positive images of ethnic and minority people to textbook publishers.  Details may be found at Our Other Companies. 

We thank our customers for their decades of support as we follow this evolving and enjoyable path of service to them and others.

                                                                                                     Jim Pawell
                                                                                                     Founder and President