James Vickaryous

A first-generation trial lawyer and former U.S. Army Reserve officer, Jim brings a sense of mission and clarity to every case he takes on. Based in Seminole County, Florida, his firm focuses exclusively on personal injury, where he’s earned a reputation for standing firm, even when the odds seem lopsided.

His path into law was less than linear. It began with advice from his parents — a Navy pilot and a Navy nurse — who emphasized service over prestige. After graduating from Stetson University College of Law in 1993, Jim took the first job that would have him, quickly learning litigation from the ground up in a commercial firm. From there, he pivoted into personal injury, co-founding a general practice in rural Florida. The work was grassroots and client-first, but it revealed a deeper calling: helping people who had been injured and overlooked.

Jim’s risk tolerance — both personal and professional — is unusually high, something he readily admits. He sees potential where others might hesitate. Many of his firm’s biggest wins have started with difficult facts, skeptical adjusters, and paralegals asking, “Are we really doing this?” But Jim pushes forward when he believes in the client. “I see the light at the end of the tunnel,” he says. “I know I can do it.”

That mindset shows in the cases he takes and the results he achieves. One of the most impactful involved a tragic accident caused by a distracted billionaire driver, resulting in the deaths of a mother and child. Jim not only held the responsible party accountable, but stayed connected to the family, moved by their resilience and generosity. It’s this closeness to the human stories — not just the legal ones — that has come to define his approach.

Alongside his legal practice, Jim draws deeply from his military background. He served as a platoon leader in the U.S. Army Reserves and was deployed to Bosnia during NATO’s peacekeeping mission in the late 1990s. That experience, witnessing the consequences of failed justice systems, reinforced his conviction that the American legal process — while imperfect — is worth defending.

At The Vickaryous Law Firm, Jim and his team focus on more than just verdicts. They emphasize transparency, tenacity, and a willingness to shoulder risk when the case — and the client — calls for it.