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Jim Holloran knew when it was time to retire.
“When it got to be 50 years, I said that’s enough,” Holloran said with a chuckle. He spent most of his career with Holloran, Schwartz & Gaertner before retiring in 2018.
At age 75, the native St. Louisan can look back on his career with pride. A graduate of Saint Louis University School of Law, he was a member of the board of governors for the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys for a decade and once served as its president. One of just 100 lawyers in the country selected for inclusion in the Inner Circle of Advocates, he is also a fellow in the International Society of Barristers.
James P. Holloran
Holloran is a recipient of the Award of Honor from the Lawyers Association of St. Louis, which he also served as president in the late 1970s.
In later years, he served on Gov. John Ashcroft’s Task Force on Liability Insurance, and from 1994 to 2000 he served on the Appellate Judicial Commission, helping to select appellate and state Supreme Court justices. He has lectured extensively on trial practice for various universities, including his alma mater, where he serves as Dean’s Council member.
“I think what I enjoyed most about it was an ability to help people who needed help,” he said of the law. “Usually when they got to my office, they had some real problems with either injuries that they had or an illness they had or a company that may have had some serious setbacks.”
Despite his many commitments, Holloran also remained active in his community as a founding board member of Loyola Jesuit Middle School, which focuses on at-risk students, and as a member of the Vianney High School board until 2007. He was also a founding member of The Soulard School. His many charitable endeavors included co-chairing a successful $5 million campaign for Guardian Angel Settlement Association to build an early-childhood center.
His family still runs John D. McGurk’s Irish Pub and Garden, a well-known St. Louis institution he founded and which helped to revitalize the city’s Soulard neighborhood just south of downtown.
“I stay involved in not-for-profit organizations because I feel like I can offer something to them that help gives back to the community for the benefits it has given me,” he said.
Holloran said he viewed his role as an attorney as a position in which he could assist others.
“My philosophy was to use the courthouse and the civil justice system to either right a wrong or get compensation for the company or individual I was representing,” he said.
Holloran said strong ethics and the ability to treat others with respect are necessary to be a successful lawyer.
“As a result, when you are talking to another lawyer, there is a sense of trust and confidence that you are able to embrace in order to help get matters resolved,” he said.
“I’ve enjoyed the profession,” he added. “It’s been good to me. I like to think I’ve been good to it.”
