About Us

James Standish, Director of Legislative Affairs
Public Affairs and Religious Liberty

James Standish represents the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist Church to the U.S. Congress, the White House and the executive agencies. In addition to his responsibilities with the Adventist Church, he is Deputy Secretary General for U.S. Legislative Affairs of the International Religious Liberty Association.

Immediately prior to taking up his responsibilities with the Adventist Church, James worked as an attorney with Powell, Goldstein, Frazer & Murphy located in downtown Washington. James received his legal education at Georgetown University, also located in Washington, where he graduated cum laude with a J.D. degree. While there, James founded and was the first president of the Church-State Law Forum at Georgetown University Law Center. The Forum hosted a major national conference on state religious freedom restoration acts during his tenure. In addition, he was a staff editor of the Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law and Policy.

James has published a number of articles on church-state law, is frequently a guest on "Talking About Freedom," a radio show that is broadcast in the Washington area, has been featured on radio in both Rome and Florence, and has presented on church-state issues in France, Italy, Australia, and in a number of settings in the United States.

Prior to pursing a career in the law, James worked at Loma Linda University and later at the University of Virginia. He received an M.B.A. from the Darden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia where he was news editor of the graduate school's newspaper. He received his bachelor's degree from Newbold College, England, where he was college newspaper editor and later student association president.