LEADERSHIP IN LAW 2026: James Bopp Jr.

Principal Attorney
The Bopp Law Firm PC

Throughout his decades of service, James Bopp Jr. hasn’t strayed far from his Indiana roots. After starting his legal career as an Indiana deputy attorney general, he formed his own law firm in 1975, which he eventually planted in Terre Haute, his hometown. He’s practiced there ever since.

Although he hasn’t traveled far, the impact of his work reverberates in every corner of the United States. Among his most significant roles, Bopp has served as general counsel for the National Right to Life Committee since 1978, developing a legal strategy to overturn Roe v. Wade. “I did that and Roe was overturned in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in 2022, which was the successful culmination of my life’s work.”

Bopp’s primary areas of focus are nonprofit tax and corporate law, campaign finance and election law, and constitutional law litigation, primarily regarding the First Amendment. His goal, he said, has always been to further the conservative cause. “As a lawyer, the way to do that is by representing nonprofit conservative advocacy groups, conservative candidates and PACs and Republican Party organizations, and by litigation supporting conservative policies,” he said.

His interest in doing that began in 1964, when Bopp, influenced by his father’s own deeply conservative views, organized a political club for Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater at his high school. In those early days it was by no means guaranteed that he would study law. “I originally thought I would be a doctor like my father, uncle and grandfather,” he said. “However, second-semester organic chemistry at IU convinced me that being a doctor was not in the cards for me. I decided to focus on a legal career, which matched my interest in government, politics and conservative philosophy.”

Although he’s been involved in more than a dozen cases that have been heard by the U.S. Supreme Court — including the landmark 2010 Citizens United v. FEC ruling — the things he lists as his proudest achievements have little to do with the courtroom. Among those are converting to Catholicism and being confirmed in the Catholic church and being appointed to the Indiana University board of trustees in 2025. But top of mind is his speech and debate team work, first in high school and then as part of IU’s Intercollegiate Debate Team. “It not only taught me how to effectively argue a legal or political issue but also that there are reasonable and good-faith arguments on all sides of an issue,” Bopp said. “People who disagree with you on an issue are not evil.”

Bopp worries that respect for others’ opinions is in short supply in today’s courtrooms. “There’s a problem with civility,” he said. “Lawyers need to understand that opposing counsel and parties are not evil to be smeared, denigrated, threatened and subjected to ad hominem attacks by the lawyer.”

Bopp said there is no other profession he’d rather do — and in his mind it’s the only one he could do. Asked what he might have done if he hadn’t pursued the law, Bopp said simply, “I would be homeless.” If not physically, at least metaphorically. “I believe that this career perfectly fits my interests, abilities and personality and what I have wanted to accomplish in my life,” he said. “I am extremely grateful for the blessings I have received in my legal career.”

Givebacks: founder, Hospice of the Wabash Valley

First job: cook’s helper at Camp Krietenstein Boy Scouts Camp

Mentors: “Stan Evans, editor of The Indianapolis News, was a major mentor who nurtured my development and involvement in the conservative moment throughout my college years at IU and my early career as a lawyer. Without his guidance and support, it would have been very difficult for me to become as deeply involved in the conservative movement as I have become.”

Advice: “Understand that your career as a lawyer will focus on the needs of your clients so that, if you want to pursue a particular course in the legal profession, you need to attract clients who have problems and needs that will take you on that course.”

Challenging moment: Winning his first case in the U.S. Supreme Court, Republican Party of Minnesota v. White, which involved a challenge to the state’s judicial canon of ethics, which said judges couldn’t publicly share their views on disputed legal and political issues. “This was a particularly challenging case since it was a case of first impression and involved issues that the Justices themselves are intimately involved with and affect them.”

Favorite de-stressors: Indiana University sports. Bopp has held season tickets for the men’s basketball team since 1976.•

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