James Lowry, IV has practiced criminal law for over 40 years. He was a four-year varsity basketball player for Davidson College. Upon his graduation from Davidson in 1975, Jim played professional basketball in Europe. He graduated from the University of Kentucky College of Law in 1979, where he focused his studies and clerkships on criminal practice.
Over his many decades of practice, Jim has built a reputation as a thoughtful, trusted force in Kentucky’s criminal justice system. He has handled thousands of cases in state and federal court running the gamut from death penalty murders, sex offenses, vehicular homicides, major property crimes and frauds, and drug trafficking all the way down to DUI’s and sundry misdemeanors. Whatever the criminal concern, Mr. Lowry has always zealously and faithfully served his clients’ interests.
He has also developed a passion for representing undergraduate and graduate students in their times of need. Whether it is defending a student in a Title IX sexual assault hearing, providing advice about NCAA compliance concerns to high-profile student-athletes, or helping a student with academic affairs or code of conduct issues, Jim has never shied away from taking care of a student during tough times.
As part of his role as a longtime student advocate, Jim has been an instrumental advisor to university officials who, with his help, identified the need to revamp protocols and student procedural rights during adversarial hearings. Those efforts resulted in major shifts in how Title IX allegations are investigated and resolved in significant portions of Kentucky. Thanks in no small part to Mr. Lowry’s efforts, students who were once not permitted to have active counsel at all now enjoy robust protections, including the right to attorney representation and confrontation of witnesses at important stages of Title IX investigations.
Jim has given advice to numerous NCAA student-athletes about compliance and has been a recurrent lecturer at ethics-focused CLE programs sponsored by the Kentucky Bar Association and the Fayette County Bar Association. He has served on several committees, both formal and informal, geared toward local practice issues in Central Kentucky.
He has notable experience in the areas of State Criminal Defense, Federal Criminal Defense, White-Collar Defense, Defense of Professionals, Defense of Public Officials, Title IX Investigations, and Expungements.
Jim is admitted to practice before all Kentucky courts, including the Kentucky Supreme Court, and the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. He serves as Of Counsel for Nash Marshall, PLLC.
Reach Jim at jlowry@nashmarshall.com.