Dr. James Ottavio Castagnera, Esq., 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 for ten years as a labor, employment, and intellectual-property attorney with the Saul Ewing law firm 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 was also 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 freelance writing, webinar and training company in the HR space; CEO of the International Artificial Intelligence Association, a think-tank dedicated to understanding the impacts of Generative AI; Of Counsel to Wilftek, a law firm specializing in IP; an Adjunct Professor of Law in the Kline School of Law at Drexel University, and chair of the advisory board of Drexel's Data Privacy, Cybersecurity and Compliance Program.

He has 25 published books.

1. The Fire Bell in the Night: The 1993 World Trade Center Bombing

2. Homegrown Terrorists: Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols (1995)

3. Should Zacarias Moussaoui Die for Usama Bin Laden's Sins? (2006)

4. It Shouldn't Happen to a Dog? The Trial of the SHAC 7 (2006)

5. All My Trials Soon Be Over? Sami Al-Arian (2005-2010)

6. Victims Fight Back: The Persian Antiquities Cases (2001-2018)

7. At the Tipping Point on the Scales of Justice: National Security vs. Civil Liberties (When a U.S. Citizen is Declared an Unlawful Enemy Combatant)

8. Of Wannabes and Bumblers: The Fort Dix Conspirators and the Underwear Bomber

9. Lone Madman or Freelance Jihadist? Nidal Malik Hasan and the Fort Hood Shootings (2009)

10. TheTimes Square Bomber (2010)

11. The Age of Trump

12. The January 6, 2021 Insurrection