Tina James is a New Jersey estate planning and elder law attorney who has built her practice
around the clients most law firms overlook — first responder families, animal owners, parents of
children with special needs, and families who want more than a form will and a signature page.
She is a sole practitioner who handles the legal work on every client matter personally,
supported by an experienced legal team. But what her clients remember most isnt the
documents — its how they felt during the process. Tina has a gift for making people feel at
ease in what is often an uncomfortable, emotional, or overwhelming situation. Her favorite
compliment, the one she hears more than any other, is some version of: “I can’t believe how
easy that was.” That doesn’t happen by accident. It happens because Tina takes the time to
actually listen, explain things in plain language, and meet people where they are — not where
the law expects them to be.
Tina focuses her practice on estate planning, estate administration, elder law, guardianship,
special needs planning, and real estate matters tied to estate and trust administration. She
brings particular depth to planning for families navigating disability, chronic illness, and the
unique legal needs that come with loving animals and serving the public in dangerous jobs.
This work is personal for her. Tina’s father was a police officer and volunteer firefighter. Her
husband is a career firefighter and a volunteer. She knows what it means to send someone you
love to work every day knowing the risks — and she knows what it means to have a plan in
place, and what it costs not to. She is also a mom to a daughter with a rare autoinflammatory
condition, which has made her one of the most informed and empathetic advocates for special
needs families in the region.
Before opening her own firm, Tina clerked in the New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division,
practiced at a national law firm in Naples, Florida — where she argued before the Florida
Supreme Court — and worked at a boutique special needs planning firm in New Jersey. She is
a proud Douglass College, Rutgers University and Rutgers Law School graduate, a member of
the New Jersey State Bar Association, the New Jersey Women Lawyers Association, and the
Middlesex County Bar Association.
Outside the office, Tina rides horses with her daughter — one of her favorite places to be. She
and her husband own a firetruck,
 a nod to the first responder roots that run deep in her family and her sense of dedication
to community and history. That love of history extends into her personal life — Tina is currently
pursuing a genealogy certificate and finds the same satisfaction in uncovering a family’s past
that she finds in securing their future.
She is also the devoted cat-mom of a Persian and a new Exotic Shorthair kitten.
She volunteers her time educating the community on legal topics at libraries, senior centers,
parent groups, and schools — because she believes everyone deserves to understand their
legal rights, not just those who can afford to figure it out on their own.
Tina loves connecting with the community in person. Come meet her at one of her upcoming

• speaking events — shed love to see you there.