About Our Founder
James Paul Maniscalco
James P. Maniscalco is the founder and managing attorney of TDSM Law. Mr. Maniscalco was a founding partner of Harding & Maniscalco LLP and a partner at Towle Denison & Maniscalco LLP. He previously spent 13 years working in the litigation departments of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher and Morrison & Foerster LLP. With over twenty-five years of experience in a wide range of litigation and corporate matters, Mr. Maniscalco is ready to help you with all of your legal needs.
Mr. Maniscalco’s practice is defined by the wide variety of assignments he has undertaken throughout his career. Mr. Maniscalco has represented clients in various transactional matters, including the drafting and negotiation of complex contracts and the representation of companies big and small in all areas of compliance and risk management. Mr. Maniscalco also has broad-based expertise as a litigator, ranging from the defense of Fortune 500 companies in class action litigation, to the prosecution of multi-billion dollar plaintiffs’ actions, to the representation of Olympic and professional athletes.
Mr. Maniscalco has served as an outside general counsel to companies ranging from new startups to established businesses with hundreds of millions of dollars in net worth. In this role, Mr. Maniscalco has advised companies on virtually every aspect of their business. In particular, he has worked extensively in advising corporations regarding all manners of compliance matters, with an emphasis on advertising law. Mr. Maniscalco has advised companies in connection with attorney advertising in all fifty states.
Mr. Maniscalco has extensive experience representing individuals, companies, and their officers and directors in complex tort and contract actions. He has appeared in jury trials in California state and federal courts, and he has argued before the California Court of Appeal and the International Court of Arbitration for Sport. In addition, Mr. Maniscalco has extensive experience appearing in state and federal courts in other jurisdictions around the country, including numerous appearances in Nevada state and federal court. He is a member of the California and Nevada State Bars and has also been admitted to practice in federal courts around the country.
Mr. Maniscalco is a recipient of the Top Attorneys of North America award. He received his B.A. with Honors from the University of California at Berkeley in 1991. He received his J.D. from the University of Southern California Law School in 1995, where he graduated in the top 2% of his class. He was a member of the Southern California Law Review and the Order of the Coif.