Fob James III was born in 1956 in Montreal, Canada, where his father was playing professional football for the Montreal Alouettes.
He returned with his parents to Fort Belvior, Virginia, and then to Alabama, where he was raised in the cities of Mobile, Montgomery, and for grades 1-12, Opelika, Alabama.
He attended the University of Virginia, taking an undergraduate interdisciplinary degree in 1979, and Duke University Law School, graduating in 1981. He practiced law in Alabama before moving to Dallas, Texas where he became a member of the Texas State Bar in 1984.
In 1988 he opened a law office in Birmingham, Alabama, where he had a varied civil plaintiffs’ practice, often representing individuals, employees, and small businesses in cases for fraud, economic oppression, and the like.
With some colleagues in Huntsville, he was involved in representing families in nursing home neglect cases across the Tennessee Valley. He represented the Governor of Alabama twice, “pro bono,” first in 1982 and then again in 1997-98, in cases defending, and bringing to remembrance, constitutional rights of religious freedom.
In 2005 Fob III took a sabbatical from the in-court practice of law but continued to negotiate contracts for various business deals, employing his insights from plaintiffs’ practice to avoid loopholes and legal vulnerabilities for his Clients.
Recently, Fob III joined his son’s law firm (Fob James Law Firm) in Birmingham as “of counsel”. He continues to be interested in personal and business fraud cases, including medical insurance fraud committed by the Blue Cross Blue Shield network and other medical/health providers.
Fob III has been married to Beth since 1979. They have 3 children.