James Tatum
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James L. Tatum

Lecturer in Political Science; Principal and Owner of River Park Consultancy, LLC;

James L. Tatum III is the Principal and Owner of River Park Consultancy, LLC. Previously, he served as an analyst in the City of Detroit’s Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) where he prepared cost benefit analyses of City projects, asset sales and labor contracts, forecasted city revenues and expenditures, and conducted complex scenario analyses for the City’s pension plans. In addition to his practical experience, he is an accomplished academic. His research on debt, pensions, insolvency, Chapter 9 bankruptcy, and dissolution has been published in trade, law, and academic journals.

He earned his B.A. in Political Science from Eastern Michigan University in 2014, where he currently lectures, and earned his Master of Public Administration from Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs in 2017.

Educational Background

  • MPA, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, 2017
  • BS, in Political Science, Eastern Michigan University, 2014

Professional Affiliations

  • Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy, University of Michigan
  • Center for Local Government Finance and Policy, Michigan State University

Recent Publications

  • Cities, Economic Distress, and Dissolution. Albany Government Law Review, 15(1), 186–209 (2022).
  • A Twenty-year Review of Flint's Financial Condition (coauthored with Stephanie Leiser and Shu Wang). Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy, Online (2022).
  • Managing Volatility. Government Finance Review, 37(2), 66–69 (2021).
  • IRC Section 115 Trusts and Pension-Related Financial Stress. Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy, Online (2021).
  • A Greater Detroit. Center for Local Government Finance and Policy, Online (2021).
  • Detroit’s Bankruptcy and Market Reentry. Emory Bankruptcy Law Developments Journal, 37(1), 65–93 (2020).
  • To Disappear a City. Syracuse Law Review, 69(1), 105–125 (2019).
  • Monetizing Masterpieces in Detroit’s Bankruptcy. The Urban Lawyer, 49(2), 267–282 (2017).
  • State Sanctioned Fraud (coauthored with Nino Monea). Business & Bankruptcy Law Journal, 4(1), 1–25 (2017)
  • The Debt is Not Payable. Harvard Journal of Legislation, Online (2016).
  • Central Falls’ Bankruptcy and the Principle of Shared Pain. Public Finance and Management, 16(3), 281–300 (2016).

Contact Information

Email: [email protected]