James L. Dougherty, Jr. has practiced municipal and public law since 1976. Until 1984, he worked for the City Attorney of the City of Houston, Texas. Since 1984, he has worked in private practice, mainly with local government entities, including municipalities, utility districts, local government corporations, special-purpose entities and a municipal receiver.
Collaborating with coauthor Brenda N. McDonald and others, Jim prepared a new edition of and updates for Professor John Mixon's standard reference work on municipal zoning in Texas, Texas Municipal Zoning Law, 3rd. Ed.(LexisNexis), which now incorporates Texas Subdivision Platting Law by Reid C. Wilson. Twice a year, Jim prepares comprehensive updates to the treatise. His updates have included special alerts on important topics, including topics related to storms and flooding.
Jim serves on the State Bar's Real Estate Legislative Affairs Committee. For each legislative session, the Committee analyzes legislation, prepares a comprehensive report and makes educational presentations. He has presented papers and speeches for the University of Texas CLE programs, State Bar of Texas CLE programs, other CLE programs, Texas chapters of the American Planning Association (APA), the TCAA, and the Real Estate Section of the HBA.
He graduated from Lamar High School, Houston, Texas (1968), Princeton University, Princeton, N.J. (A.B. 1972) and the University of Texas Law School, Austin, Texas (J.D. 1975). His memberships include the State Bar of Texas, the American Bar Association (ABA), the Houston Bar Association (HBA), the Texas City Attorney's Association (TCAA) and the International Municipal Lawyers Association (IMLA).