James N. Tracy

Jim Tracy is a Partner in MKCI’s Florham Park, NJ office. The focus of his practice has been complex civil litigation, largely in the defense of products liability cases. He has served as lead counsel on hundreds of cases, many involving high-exposure catastrophic injuries and wrongful death claims. Jim is tenacious in the defense of his clients and takes pride in the many long-standing relationships his years of practice have fostered. He has litigated cases in the state and federal courts of New Jersey for more than 30 years and has significant trial and appellate experience. More recently, his practice has expanded to include New York as well.

Much of Jim’s products work has been for major auto manufacturers such as General Motors. His cases have involved a wide variety of passenger and commercial vehicles, their systems and components, as well as cargo containment devices. Jim knows that successfully defending such cases involves the careful piecing together of a manufacturer’s “due care” story in the design, testing, and assembly of its products and the importance of developing a strong technical defense, well supported by experts. In the case of automotive products, Jim has successfully defended claims aimed at structural design and crashworthiness, occupant restraint systems, rollover stability, pedestrian impact, and vehicle fires. Some representative cases include: Vogel v. Fernandes, 2013 NJS UNPUB. LEXIS 1814 (AD 2013) (scope of crashworthiness doctrine); Silverstein v. Northrop Grumman, 367 NJS 361 (A.D. 2004) (government contractor defense); Poliseno v. GM Corp., 328 NJS 41 (A.D. 2000) (apportionment of liability in crashworthiness cases); Green v. GM Corp., 310 NJS 507 (A.D. 1998) (reasonable alternative design).

Manufacturers have also retained Jim to oversee and coordinate the handling of product litigation by outside counsel and to provide legal advice on matters involving successor liability, regulatory compliance, internal product investigations, recalls, warnings, advertising materials, document collection and retention practices.

In addition, Jim has considerable experience handling ERISA-related matters on behalf of plan fiduciaries and their agents. Most of his work is in the field of health care subrogation and he has successfully recovered millions of dollars on behalf of large group and union health care plans through the litigation of subrogation/reimbursement claims brought under ERISA’s civil enforcement provisions. His recovery efforts extend to the Workers’ Compensation courts of New Jersey, where he appears statewide on behalf of his clients. In his years of practice, Jim has presented on related topics to his clients and industry groups such as the National Association of Subrogation Professionals (NASP).

Prior to joining MKCI in 2021, Jim was the managing partner of a New Jersey law firm specializing in defense work where he practiced for more than 30 years. Before entering private practice, he served as a law clerk to the Honorable James Havey of the New Jersey Appellate Division.

On a personal note, Jim enjoys spending time with his family and traveling. He is a firm believer in giving back to his community and has volunteered to serve as the attorney advisor for mock trial teams at local area high schools for 18 years and counting.

Jim obtained his Juris Doctor degree from Suffolk University Law School. He earned his Double Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Political Science from Bucknell University.