Attorney James Kimmel Jr. returned to his alma mater, Tyrone Area High School, last Friday to address a school violence assembly and facilitate seminars.
Kimmel is a member of the Blueprint for a Safer Philadelphia Commission. He is also an author whose book, “Suing For Peace” is part of the Philadelphia gun buyback program. He is the founder of the NonJustice Foundation.
A highly respected Ivy League attorney who combines legal expertise with spiritual wisdom to resolve the most difficult conflicts, Attorney Kimmel’s proven nine step “Nonjustice System” helps people save their relationships and improve their lives by breaking what he calls “The Justice Addiction.”
When somebody is hurt by another person, the victim sometimes believes that getting even will make them feel better.
But Kimmel says that getting even only leaves people feeling worse. He said for many people, getting even has become a dangerous addiction that destroys relationships, families, schools, careers, and even entire communities.
Kimmel addressed ninth, 10th and 11th graders in three separate assemblies held in the high school library. Students had been asked to fill out a survey regarding the issues of justice and the role seeking justice played in their lives.
During a morning assembly, Kimmel engaged in a give and take with students by asking for a show of hands regarding certain topics and then asking students to discuss issues such as violence and the seeking of justice in response to things which had happened in their lives.
Kimmel also spoke of an event in his life which involved justice seeking. He said as a youth he had been bullied by other youngsters and became so angry that he took a gun and went looking for those who had bothered him. He explained he was “15 seconds from taking that path” but was able to restrain himself. He wondered if students at the assembly might have had similar thoughts. At least one of expressed that they did.
According to a press release from his publisher, Kimmel received his doctorate in jurisprudence from the University of Pennsylvania and has served as a Philadelphia prosecutor and as a civil litigator with two of the most prestigious law firms in the country. He is also a religious scholar and a Quaker.
His latest book, “Suing for Peace: A Guide for Resolving Life\’s Conflicts (without Lawyers, Guns, or Money)”, is being given to people in Philadelphia who voluntarily turn in weapons as part of the city\’s gun buyback program to end violence.
Kimmel lives in the suburbs of Philadelphia with his wife and two children.
