James F. Tierney, III

He began his practice as an associate with a major Inland Empire insurance defense firm. In 1990 he became a partner in the firm of Stanfield & Warner. During this time, Mr. Tierney’s practice was mainly dedicated to insurance defense, public entity and police civil liability for the County of San Bernardino.

In 1996, Mr. Tierney’s firm merged with a leading Orange County defense firm and he became managing partner of their Inland Empire office. In 2000 he was invited to join forces with a prominent local personal injury attorney named Douglas Welebir.  It was at that time he decided to change sides and began representing plaintiffs’ after spending more than 16 years representing defendants in personal injury cases.  Along with Mr. Welebir they formed the firm of Welebir|Tierney where he remained until Doug’s untimely passing in 2018.  Mr. Tierney then joined with Mr. Dolen and Mr. Tucker, both being lawyers he has known for more than 25 years, to form DTTA.  

He received his J.D. degree from Citrus Belt School of Law in 1984.

Mr. Tierney’s current practice is the representation of a wide variety of plaintiffs’ in personal injury cases. He is an active member of the Consumer Attorneys of California, the American Association for Justice, the San Bernardino County Bar Association, the California Bar Association and the Joseph P. Campbell Inns of Court. He is a member of The American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), an honor bestowed on very few trial attorneys nationwide. He has volunteered as a Judge Pro Tem and has also worked as an Appellate Court Mediator at the Fourth District Court of Appeals in Riverside.

Mr. Tierney has been a resident of the Inland Empire for well over 40 years, having grown up in the High Desert and then living and raising his family in the San Bernardino area for the past 17 years. He is active in the community, and was recently named to the Board of Directors for Junior University, an organization that devotes its time and resources to developing and encouraging young performers learn and practice their craft in presenting quality and professional summer musical programs in San Bernardino

Mr. Tierney is AV® Preeminent™ rated by Martindale-Hubbell. This is the preeminent rating, achievable only after admission to the bar for at least ten years, indicating the highest level of legal ability and ethics.

Education

• Citrus Belt Law School - Riverside, California
  • Juris Doctorate, 1984

Bar Admissions

• California, 1984
• U.S. District Court, Central District of California, 1985
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, 1985

Honors and Awards

• AV "Preeminent" Rated by Martindale-Hubbell
• The Best Lawyers in America: Listed in Best Lawyers since 2012
• Southern California Super Lawyers
• Top 100 Trial Lawyers in California by the National Trial Lawyers, 2017

Professional Associations and Memberships

• The State Bar of California
• San Bernardino County Bar Association
• American Association for Justice (AAJ)
• Joseph P. Campbell Inns of Court
• Consumer Attorneys of California AV® Preeminent™ rated by Martindale-Hubbell
• American Board of Trial Advocates, Rank: Associate
• California: San Bernardino/Riverside Chapter, President, 2009
• CAL-ABOTA Board, Member-at-Large
• Million Dollar Advocates Forum
• Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum