
Attorney Jim Reed
Jim has won many substantial results, earned many awards and received countless client testimonials over his many years of practice.
1-800-ZIFF-LAW (943-3529)
jreed@zifflaw.com
Mailing Address
303 William Street, Box 1338
Elmira, NY 14902–1338
Paralegal
Karen Wheadon
1-800-ZIFF-LAW (943-3529)
kwheadon@zifflaw.com
Professional Biography
For more than 33 years, Jim has practiced in the state and federal courts of both New York and Pennsylvania in the areas of Personal Injury and Medical Malpractice. Jim limits his practice to the representation of INJURED PERSONS ONLY and does NOT do any insurance defense work.
- Jim has been selected “Lawyer of the Year” three times by “Best Lawyers in America” and as a “NY SuperLawyer” by US News & World Report for 11+ (and counting!) years.
- Jim is a member of the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, New York State Trial Lawyers Association, the New York Academy of Trial Lawyers, and the American Association for Justice.
NY & PA Bike Law Lawyer
Jim is an avid bicycle rider, racer and strong advocate for the bicycling community. Jim is former President of the NY Bicycling Coalition and is currently on the NYBC Board of Directors. Over his 33+ year career, Jim has represented hundreds of injured bicyclists and has a real passion for helping fellow cyclists.
Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum
Jim was selected for membership in the prestigious Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum. Forum membership is limited to trial lawyers who have demonstrated exceptional skill, experience and excellence in advocacy by achieving a trial verdict, award or settlement of Two Million Dollars or more. Jim was selected for membership following his successful handling of a medical malpractice case for a little girl who suffered permanent brain damage due to a delay in delivery. The case settled for the full insurance limits of $2,000,000.00. In addition to this case, Jim has handled several other Million-Plus cases. See more of Jim’s results here.
SPU Faculty
Jim is very proud of the fact that he was selected as a member of the Faculty of Solo Practice University (SPU). SPU is a ground-breaking, international virtual university dedicated to teaching lawyers everything that law schools do not– how to handle a REAL case from beginning to end.
Given his broad experience as an injury attorney for more than 20 years, Jim was selected to teach: Injury Law 101– The Nuts and Bolts of Handling an Injury Case. Why is this a big deal? Because the SPU Faculty Members have been selected from among the very best lawyers in the country and a faculty member must be formally invited to join the SPU faculty. Congratulations to Jim on this great appointment.
Past-President, NY Bicycling Coalition
As a tireless advocate for safer bicycling in NY, Jim is proud to have been selected as President of the Board of Directors of the NY Bicycling Coalition (NYBC). NYBC is the only state-wide bicycle advocacy organization in NY. See NYBC.net for more info about this great organization.
Jim’s Results
What Clients Say About Jim
Extraordinary is the word that comes to mind
when I think of Jim Reed. He goes above and beyond for his clients and makes them feel like their experience really matters. He plays hardball when he needs to and he does whatever he can to make sure his client gets a great result. I really appreciate everything Jim and Karen did for me and I am so grateful. If you are looking for a wonderful attorney, I highly recommend Jim Reed!! From the bottom of my heart, I thank you.”
—Sarah W.
Watkins Glen, NY
Personal Background

Old, but beloved picture of me with my kids
Jim is a lifelong resident of the Finger Lakes region of Upstate NY where he lives with his wife and three kids. When he’s not working, Jim can often be found on his bicycle as he is an avid bicycle racer having competed in races all over the country including a 508 mile team race through Death Valley (The Furnace Creek 508) and a 540 mile race through the Cascade Mountains of Oregon (The Race Across Oregon). First and foremost is my family. I am blessed with a wonderful family: My best friend/wife Meg who is an Attorney for the Child representing children in Family Court. For years Meg put her own career on hold as a stay-at-home Mom to our three kids until they flew the nest for college (and now grad school and jobs).

My wife Meg with my daughter and nieces– the September Birthday girls
Below is a picture of me taken July, 2004 that was one of my favorite days of my life. The night before this picture was taken, my 14 year old son and I had pitched a tent in the dark on top of a French Alp called Col de la Madeleine because we planned to watch our hero, Lance Armstrong, race to the top of the mountain the next day in the Tour De France (by now, you know I am a huge bike racing fan, right?). We awoke to the sound of buzzing flies and discovered that we had pitched our tent in the middle of a very well-used (and smelly) cow pasture. Needless to say, we quickly abandoned the field and made friends with a generous German couple who kindly shared their icy cold beer so all was well!!
My Dad was a very hard-working, self-employed plumber who taught by example that there was great value in attention to detail, good manners and a strong work ethic. Because he ran his own business and because of his devotion to his regular customers, my Dad was uneasy being away from home (and his customers) for too long. Because of this, long-distance travel was out of the question. Maybe as a result, I love traveling to distant places and experiencing cultures very different from our own. Like my Dad, in a week to ten days I am itching to get back “home” but I have really enjoyed traveling with my kids over the years. I hope by exposing them to other cultures they will learn what a truly diverse place the world is and they will appreciate just how fortunate we are in the United States. Now that my kids have flown the nest and I am no longer devoting half my waking hours driving to travel soccer games all over the Northeast, I have turned into a passionate woodworker. I have much to learn but I love spending hours working in my workshop restoring old tools, learning new skills and making lots of sawdust!
Thanks for visiting and feel free to E-mail me if I can ever help you with a legal question.
Jim Reed
Email: jreed@zifflaw.com
Phone: 1–800-ZIFF-LAW (943‑3529)
Mailing Address: 303 William Street / Box 1338 / Elmira, NY 14902–1338