James M. Brown (born December 9, 1941) is a trial attorney in private practice in Salem, Oregon, who served as Oregon Attorney General from 1980 to 1981. He is a Democrat. Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Brown attended American University before graduating Willamette University magna cum laude with a B.A. in 1964, and Yale Law School with an LL.B. in 1967, being admitted to the Oregon bar the same year.