About James Lewis
James "Matt" Lewis, Esq. serves as Chief Legal Officer, Senior Counsel and Government Contracting Division Co-Lead at The Wilkinson Firm. His background is rare in the field: he has served as an Administrative Law Judge at the EEOC and the North Carolina Employment Security Commission.
That distinction matters. Most employment attorneys read the law. James has applied it from the bench. When TWF builds compliance documentation, termination protocols, or investigation procedures for HHS clients, James reviews them through the lens of someone who has adjudicated the exact disputes those documents are designed to prevent.
His advisory work at TWF spans wrongful termination risk analysis, ADA and FMLA compliance for clinical workforces, investigation procedure design, and multi-state employment law harmonization. He works closely with TWF’s Compliance Confidence™ and Multi-State Mastery™ programs to ensure every deliverable holds up under regulatory scrutiny.
For HHS organizations operating in YMYL territory - where a compliance failure can trigger Medicaid decertification, CARF deficiency, or state licensing action - having a former federal judge review your HR infrastructure is not a luxury. It's a structural advantage.
“I've ruled on the laws I now advise clients to follow. That perspective changes everything.”
- James Lewis, Esq.
