Angela Payne James

• Won judgment of $318 million as trial counsel on behalf of a high-tech company in a fraud and unfair and deceptive trade practices jury trial in the Middle District of North Carolina.
• Achieved a favorable settlement as counsel for a major telecommunications company in a multidistrict litigation patent infringement case brought by a nonpracticing entity asserting multimillion-dollar patent claims involving interactive call processing technology in the Central District of California.
• Achieved a favorable settlement for one of the world’s largest computer manufacturers in a multimillion-dollar patent license royalty dispute case in Delaware Chancery Court.
• Served as a senior member of the national class counsel team that represented a global automobile manufacturer in multidistrict litigation proceedings in the Central District of California involving more than 200 class actions filed across the country related to unintended acceleration in vehicles; provided counsel on complex source code protection and production issues.
• Achieved a favorable settlement before trial for a fraction of asserted damages as trial counsel for a major computer manufacturer in a fraud and trade secret case involving product searching website software in the District of New Jersey.
• Achieved a favorable settlement before trial as litigation counsel for a cable set-top box manufacturer and four telecommunication companies in a patent infringement case involving DVR technology in the Eastern District of Texas.
• Defended a major mattress manufacturer in a patent litigation case involving foam mattresses in the Western District of Virginia.
• Achieved favorable settlements in multiple cases for a cable company in several patent infringement cases in the District of Delaware.
• Served as lead counsel in a case and mediation for a company to favorably resolve a breach of contract action with a software vendor in the Northern District of Georgia.
• Served as lead counsel in a successful mediation for a document management company to favorably resolve a software vendor dispute before litigation.
• Achieved a favorable settlement before discovery for one of the world’s largest electronic transaction processing companies in a patent litigation case in the Eastern District of Texas.
• Counsel for a national health care corporation in a patent infringement case brought by a nonpracticing entity involving electronic medical administration records and a bar-coding system in the Eastern District of Tennessee.
• Represented an Australian medical products company in a trademark and patent infringement case against a former licensee involving urinary catheter technology in the Northern District of Georgia.
• Represented a global upscale retailer in all trademark enforcement matters.
• Represented an Internet medical information provider in all trademark enforcement matters, including domain name disputes.

As Diversity & Inclusion Partner, Angela Payne James leads Alston & Bird’s governance and management of diversity and inclusion initiatives to align with the firm’s overall business strategy. Before joining the firm, Angela was managing director and global chief of staff for Goldman Sachs’s Technology Division. She also served on Goldman’s Technology Executive Leadership Group and Technology Division Risk Committee.

Before joining Goldman, Angela was a partner with Alston & Bird’s Litigation & Trial Practice and Intellectual Property Litigation groups. Angela was also a member of the firm’s Diversity Steering Committee, where she helped develop firmwide strategies, programs, and panels. She also served as chair of the Diversity Committee in the firm’s Atlanta office. Angela is also a past recipient of the firm’s Diversity Leadership Award.

Angela is a founding board member of The Women’s Collective and a member of Leadership Atlanta. She is a former board member of the YWCA of Greater Atlanta and Hands On Atlanta and has also served on the Atlanta advisory board of the Posse Foundation.

After graduating, cum laude, from Harvard Law School, Angela served as a clerk for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

Bar Admissions

• Georgia

Education

• Harvard University (J.D., 1996)
• Harvard College (B.A., 1992)

Memberships