James Mayer

James (Jim) Mayer is a managing attorney at GNIP where he screens, investigates, and litigates cases involving claims of actual innocence. He leads GNIP’s policy advocacy in North Dakota, and teaches courses on wrongful convictions and leads innocence clinics at North Dakota and Minnesota law schools. Before joining the Great North Innocence Project, Jim spent more than a decade as a private practice litigator. During his time in private practice, he was involved in innocence work as a pro bono attorney, including death penalty cases in Louisiana. Jim was co-lead counsel in the post-conviction case of Michael Wearry, whose capital conviction was vacated by the United States Supreme Court in 2016. He also played a key role in the creation and development of the Minnesota Conviction Review Unit, one of just a handful of state-wide conviction review units in the United States, part of a groundbreaking partnership between the Great North Innocence Project and the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office.