James B. Duquette became a partner at Seymour Kremer Koch LLP in 2013, after four years as an associate at the firm. His primary focus is family law, civil litigation, real estate, personal injury cases and municipal law. He has successfully tried cases in small claims and circuit court, with winning verdicts received in jury trials and bench trials. He also assists buyers and sellers in a variety of real estate transactions and helps landowners with zoning issues and other property disputes. James is also a municipal attorney, providing representation to the City of Delavan, Town of Linn, and Town of Sharon. James has been elected to the bench three times where he served as Municipal Judge for the City of Elkhorn from 2015 to 2023. During that time, James was asked by the Office of Judicial Education to present various seminars at municipal court education conferences. The topics included rules of evidence and the role of the municipal court prosecutor. James is also a founding member of the Elkhorn Economic Development Alliance and previously served as that organization’s President.
In 2014, James argued before the Supreme Court of Wisconsin in State v. Hemp, 2014 WI 129, 359 Wis.2d 320, 856 N.W.2d 811. He assisted his client in that case from the circuit court through the highest court in the state, winning a unanimous decision on behalf of his client. The decision has become the seminal case concerning the expungement of a defendant’s criminal conviction in Wisconsin.
James attended UW – Stevens Point, where he served as president of the Student Government Association and graduated in 2005 with a B.S. in political science. He then studied at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis, Minnesota. While in law school James clerked at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota and was a research assistant for Constitutional Law scholar Thomas C. Berg. He earned the Dean’s Award for Advanced Trial Advocacy in his third year and received his Juris Doctorate in 2008.
James is a member of the Wisconsin Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Walworth County Bar Association, and he is licensed to practice in the United States District Court of Wisconsin, both Western and Eastern Districts.
