Clarence ‘Buddy’ James worked as an investigator for the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court while attending Cleveland-Marshall’s night program. He started his career at Legal Aid of Cleveland, first running its west side office before becoming chief of the civil division. In 1967, Mayor Carl Stokes asked him to become the city’s law director. After serving as law director for four years, he practiced law privately in Cleveland until 1976 when he returned to his home state of California to serve as deputy campaign manager for presidential candidate Jimmy Carter. He later joined Keefe Co., an international firm for public and governmental relations in Washington, D.C. and finished his legal career working with his son’s securities company in Florida.