James Flummer is a graduate of University High School, and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois. He earned the degree of Juris Doctor from the University of Illinois College of Law.

During his career, at separate times he served as State's Attorney of both Pulaski County and Alexander County in extreme Southern Illinois, and municipal attorney for many of the cities and villages in those counties. Early in his career, he served at various times as Public Defender in both Pulaski and Alexander Counties, as well as the neighboring counties of Union, Johnson and Massac. Thereafter, for many years he was engaged in private practice with emphasis on criminal and traffic defense.

In over 35 years of practice, he has tried numerous cases, ranging from low level traffic tickets to murder, both as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney,

On November 30, 2020, after six years, he left the position of Pulaski County State's Attorney, to return to private practice with the intent to concentrate on affordable defense of Driving Under the Influence, Construction Zone, and other Traffic Tickets.