Dr. Jim Castagnera holds an M.A. in Journalism from Kent State University and a J.D. and Ph.D. (American Studies) from Case Western Reserve University. He worked 10 years as a labor, employment, and intellectual-property attorney with Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr and 23 years as associate provost & legal counsel for academic affairs at Rider University, where in 2018 he received the university’s highest annual award for distinguished service. He also did stints as a full-time law professor at UT-Austin and Widener University Law School.

Having retired from Rider in 2019, he is engaged in a portfolio of activities: President of Dr. Jim’s One-Stop HR Shop, a full-service HR law and compliance company; Partner with Portum Group International LLC, a data-privacy & compliance-consulting firm; Of Counsel to the Wilftek law firm; an Adjunct Professor of Law in the Kline School of Law at Drexel University, and an arbitrator for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.