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Jim Rogan was raised by his grandmother and grandfather - - a longshoreman for over 40 years on the docks of San Francisco. When they died, Jim went to live with his mother, a convicted felon and single mother on welfare and food stamps with four young children. Jim dropped out of high school to go to work, taking a string of low-paying jobs, like scrubbing toilets, cooking pizzas, stacking truck tires, and selling vacuum cleaners door-to-door. Although he never returned to complete high school, Jim enrolled at Chabot Community College, and then went on to earn a B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley, and a J.D. from UCLA Law School. Jim worked his way through law school as a bartender in a string of seedy bars on the Sunset Strip and North Hollywood, including a Hell’s Angels bar, a female mud wrestling strip joint, and even as a bouncer in a porno theater. He witnessed assaults, knife fights, drug overdoses, and murder. Some of the places were so dangerous that he carried handguns in shoulder holsters and speed loaders in his pockets. Through all this, Jim studied his law books by the dim red bar sink lights while pouring drinks and breaking up fights.
After finishing law school and passing the bar exam, Jim did a short stint as a corporate attorney in one of Los Angeles’ most prestigious law firms. Feeling grateful for the educational opportunities that brought him from a disadvantaged youth, he wanted to give something back to his community. He resigned from his firm after a year and signed on as a Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney. Soon he joined the “Hardcore Gang Murder Unit,” where he specialized in the prosecution of L.A.’s most notorious street gangs, the Crips and Bloods. Within five years, California Lawyer Magazine named him one of the state’s most effective prosecutors. Governor George Deukmejian appointed then 31-year old Jim Rogan to serve as judge of what is now the Los Angeles County Superior Court. During his four-year tenure on the bench, Jim's colleagues elected him presiding judge of their local court.
In 1994, Jim ran for and won a special election to the California State Assembly, where in his freshman term his colleagues elected him Majority Leader. California Journal Magazine named him the Assembly’s most effective legislator, and ranked him “number one in integrity” and "number one in overall effectiveness."
In 1996, Jim won the first of two terms to the U.S. House of Representatives. He was one of only two members of Congress to serve on both the Commerce and Judiciary Committees, two of the most prestigious and powerful committees in the Congress.
Because of his background as a prosecutor and his reputation for fairness among Republicans and Democrats alike, the House of Representatives selected Jim to be one of the managers in the historic impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton. This role gave Jim worldwide recognition for his prosecutorial skills, as well as his cool demeanor during a painful episode in American history. However, as a Republican representing a heavily Democratic district, Jim’s vote of conscience on this matter caused his defeat for reelection in what became the most expensive House race in American history.
Shortly after leaving Congress, President George W. Bush selected Jim to be the U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Although controlled by a Democratic majority, the U.S. Senate confirmed Jim unanimously, and he assumed office in December 2001. In this new role, Jim ran one of the oldest agencies in the federal government, overseeing 8,000 employees and a $1.5 billion budget. In this role, he served as chief advisor to President Bush on all matters of intellectual property. Jim left the Bush Administration in early 2004, and joined the law firm of Venable LLP in Washington, D.C. Jim and his family are moving home to Southern California to open Venable's West Coast office in late summer 2004.
Jim and his wife Christine were married in 1988; their twin daughters, Dana and Claire, were born in 1992. In 2004 he completed work on a memoir of his early life: “Rough Edges: My Unlikely Road from Welfare to Washington,” published by Harper Collins and Regan Books. The book is available for prepublication orders on Amazon.com; it arrives in bookstores across America on July 6, 2004. In reviewing Jim’s book, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said, “Jim Rogan’s life is one of the best examples of the American Dream that I know of. Through faith in God and hard work, he rose from nearly impossible circumstances to become a national leader of great integrity and intelligence. His story is both inspirational and instructive, and should be read by everyone who believes they can’t make it in America.”