Jim Sells is a Northwest native who was born and raised in Mason County. He graduated from Central Washington University in 1969 and was employed as a counselor with the Washington State Department of Juvenile Rehabilitation prior to joining the Ryan Sells Uptegraft, Inc. P.S. firm in 1975, he was counsel to the Legislative Transportation Committee in Olympia, Washington.

He is admitted to practice before all Washington courts, Federal District Court, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the United States Supreme Court, and the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission. He is AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell.

He has served as Judge Pro Tem in Kitsap County Superior Court, Pierce County Superior Court, Kitsap County District Court, Bremerton Municipal Court, Gig Harbor Municipal Court, and Poulsbo Municipal Court. He has served as a trustee of the Kitsap County Bar Association and was Special District Counsel for the Washington State Bar Association for many years. In 1996 he was awarded the Kitsap County Bar Association Professionalism Award for Sustained Excellence in the Practice of Law and was named the Kitsap County Legal Secretaries' Association Boss of the Year.

Jim's practice is focused upon representation of solid waste transportation companies in administrative and legal matters; representation of title insurance companies in litigation matters; and complex civil litigation. He is General Counsel to the Washington Refuse and Recycling Association, and the Washington Highway Users Federation.