James A. Funt

James A. Funt specializing in blue collar and white-collar criminal defense, civil rights, and employment discrimination matters on behalf of plaintiffs.

Mr. Funt, a seasoned trial attorney,  has twice chaired the Criminal Justice Section (CJS) of the Philadelphia Bar Association and has served on the executive committee for over fifteen years. He has also served on the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Board of Governors and the Commission of Judicial Selection and Retention tasked with investigating and evaluating prospective jurists. He has successfully tried countless criminal cases before judges and juries in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey’s state and federal courts.  The cases ranged from complex homicides to aggravated assaults, sexual assaults, kidnappings, robberies, drug related matters, and white-collar crimes, including sexual cybercrimes.  His practice includes the defense of adult and juvenile matters.

Mr. Funt often handles high profile matters and understands how to handle the press delicately and deftly in the best interest of his clients. His clientele includes firefighters, police officers, attorneys, doctors, sports figures, as well other professionals. He has also litigated numerous civil rights cases alleging claims of excessive force and wrongful arrest. He has successfully represented clients in first amendment issues, employment discrimination cases such as age, race, gender, whistleblowing, and sexual orientation claims, victims’ rights issues and is part of the Weir Flood group, headed by Robert Sokoloff, Esquire. Additionally, Mr. Funt has represented individuals (either as the plaintiff or the defendant) in protection from abuse (PFA) cases. He understands the intricacies of how abuse orders can impact an individual’s employment, their custody rights, their 2^nd amendment rights, as well as the crossover implications when also accused of criminal charges that arise out of the accusations alleged in the protection from abuse order petition.

Contacts in the Hispanic Community

An accomplished litigator in the courtroom for all his clients, Mr. Funt takes particular pride in always fighting for the “little guy.” He began advocating for workers’ rights while living in Mexico which is where he became fluent in Spanish.  There he was instrumental in spearheading a variety of humanitarian, environmental, and developmental projects, an experience that left an indelible mark on him. Mr. Funt is sensitive to the current challenges the Latino population often face in the United States and for that reason has developed a large Hispanic clientele in the tri-state region representing people from Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Ecuador, and Panama among others.

Criminal, Civil Rights, Employment Expertise & Union Representation

Mr. Funt has a distinguished and diversified background as a complex civil and criminal trial attorney. After returning from Mexico, he began his legal career in 1994 as a trial lawyer with the Defender Association of Philadelphia, where he represented indigent defendants in serious criminal cases. While there, he was selected to investigate and track cases involving allegations of police abuse and corruption and was involved in exposing the civil liberty abuses by the 39th police district.

Mr. Funt was previously recruited to join the Philadelphia-area office of one of the country’s largest labor law firms, Willig, Williams, and Davidson, where he represented unions and individual plaintiffs on complex labor and employment cases. There he represented individuals in grievances and arbitrations on job related issues, assisting Philadelphia and Erie Fire Fighters with their interest arbitration and contract negotiations, and secured large monetary awards on behalf of individuals in state and federal court whose civil liberties had been violated. There Mr. Funt served as in-house counsel for the firm’s numerous union clients advocating on behalf of individual union members accused of criminal conduct.

Mr. Funt continues to maintain strong ties with the union movement representing the Philadelphia Fire Department, bakery workers, probation officers, steel & rubber workers, teamsters, postal workers, teachers, food and commercial workers, painters, glaziers and roofers to name a few throughout the tri-state region. His civil verdicts also include a multi-million-dollar jury verdict against the University of Pennsylvania representing a special needs dentist, as well as a million dollar verdict against the Philadelphia Homicide Unit for malicious prosecution, just to name a few.

High Publicity Cases and the Media

Mr. Funt has been involved in some of the area’s highly publicized cases and is keenly aware of the value and hazards of press related matters. He understands that often it is just as important to defend a client’s reputation in the court of public opinion, as well as the courtroom, and will use every tool at his disposal to ensure that his clients receive fair treatment throughout their ordeal. As such, he is often sought out by the media to address current events and constitutional matters and is often invited to lecture other attorneys at CLE’s as well as the National Institute of Trial Advocacy (NITA) on substantive legal issues and trial advocacy skills.

Difficult Cases

Mr. Funt does not shy away from the difficult or unpopular cases, and no one investigates cases more thoroughly. He understands that there are two sides to every story, and that is his duty to fully reveal the truth when representing his client. These matters often must be brought before a jury, and juries are where Mr. Funt shines, whether successfully arguing his clients’ innocence or securing for them full and fair compensation.