James C. Francis

Adjunct Professor of Law

United States Magistrate Judge
500 Pearl Street
New York, NY 11050
Phone: 212-805-0206
Fax: 212-805-7930
[email protected]

James C. Francis IV has been a United States Magistrate Judge in the Southern District of New York since 1985, serving as Chief Magistrate Judge from 1998 to 2000. Judge Francis graduated summa cum laude from Yale College in 1974, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He received his juris doctor degree from the Yale Law School in 1978 and a masters degree in public policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in the same year.

Following graduation from law school, Judge Francis clerked for the Honorable Robert L. Carter in the Southern District of New York. He then joined the Civil Appeals and Law Reform Unit of the Legal Aid Society where he conducted impact litigation in the areas of housing, education, and the rights of disabled persons.

    • Moore's Federal Practice, Ch. 29, 31, 34, 35 (3d ed. 1997)
    • "Pretrial Management" (Federal Civil Practice, Georgene Vairo, ed. 2003)
    • "What You Need to Know to Resolve Discovery Disputes," 8 Practical Litigator 75 (1997)
    • "Mandatory Law School Pro Bono Programs," 50 Record 170 (1995)
    • Practicing Before United States Magistrate Judges," 5 Practical Litigator 15 (1994)
    • "Current Discovery Disputes," (ALI-ABA Civil Practice and Litigation Techniques in Federal Courts (1993)
    • "United Jewish Organizations and the Need to Recognize Aggregate Voting Rights," 87 Yale Law Journal 571 (1978)

  • Federal Bar Council
    Association of the Bar of City of New York
    Federal Courts Committee
    Legal Assistance Committee
    Disability Rights Committee
    New York State Bar Association
    Committee on Federal Judiciary

  • BA Yale College, 1974
    JD. Yale Law School, 1978
    MPP John F. Kennedy School, Harvard, 1978

Mailing Address

Fordham University School of Law
Legal Writing Program
150 West 62nd Street, Room 7-175
New York, NY 10023