James Backman

Education

BA Harvard College, Magna cum laude in German Language and Literature (1969)

JD University of Utah College of Law (1972)

Admissions

Utah State Bar

History

James began his career clerking for Judge Ozell Trask on the Federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in Phoenix, Arizona. He worked with his father, brother and uncle in a property and estate planning law firm with a title business connection. He joined the faculty at the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University in 1974 with the second year of the law school. He has taught courses primarily in property, natural resources and real estate finance areas. Earlier he also taught commercial law, banking law and credit-debtor relations. He taught at the University of Illinois law school 1979-80. He had a leave of absence from teaching to serve as European Area Legal Counsel for the LDS Church in Frankfurt, Germany from 1982-84. He has established a large externship program for law students at BYU. He organized and directs an LL.M. program for foreign lawyers and judges at BYU. He has been update editor for Powell on Real Property; He is author (with David Thomas) of Utah Real Property Law; and a book on Disputes Between Adjoining Landowners.