Seminole Tribe of Florida General Counsel Jim Shore, 80, Passes Away

HOLLYWOOD, Fla., Sept. 1, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Jim Shore, 80, who served as General Counsel of the Seminole Tribe of Florida for more than four decades and guided the Tribe to unprecedented levels of success, died Saturday, Aug. 30, at Cleveland Clinic Hospital in Weston, Fla.  He was rushed there after suffering a sudden cardiac arrest at his home in nearby Davie, Fla., earlier in the day.

Jim Shore was born a member of the Seminole Tribe's Bird Clan on February 16, 1945 on what is now the Brighton Seminole Reservation, northwest of Lake Okeechobee.  He and his parents, Frank and Lottie Shore and his two brothers and four sisters lived in the woods, where the family raised cattle.  They lived under traditional Seminole chickees made of cypress logs with thatched palmetto fronds for roofs.  There was no indoor plumbing, no television and few roads.

He graduated from Okeechobee High School in 1963.  Blinded by an automobile accident in 1970, he was one of the first members of the Seminole Tribe to attend college when he enrolled at North Florida Junior College and then Stetson University in DeLand, Florida, where he earned a bachelor's degree in history in 1977.  He continued his education at Stetson University College of Law in St. Petersburg, graduating in 1980.

Jim Shore was the first member of the Seminole Tribe to become an attorney.  He was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1981 and became deputy general counsel of the Seminole Tribe of Florida.  He took over as general counsel one year later and had been in charge of all legal matters for the Tribe since then.

"A man of few words, but with a big heart and exceptional vision, Jim Shore worked tirelessly to ensure a prosperous future for the members of the Seminole Tribe of Florida," said Seminole Tribe Chairman Marcellus Osceola Jr.  "We owe him a huge debt of gratitude for everything he accomplished on the Tribe's behalf."

Jim Shore was instrumental in the establishment of "Unlimited Bingo" at what is now the Seminole Classic Casino in Hollywood in 1979.  At the time, he said, no one knew it would open up Indian gaming to other Tribes.  A series of court decisions validated the Seminole Tribe's earliest gaming venture, and it became the forerunner of the Indian Gaming movement throughout the United States.  Today, Indian Gaming is responsible for more than half of the nation's total gaming revenue.

In 1987, he negotiated a landmark Water Rights Compact, which was approved by both state and federal statutes.  It settled a major legal dispute between the Seminole Tribe, the State of Florida and the South Florida Water Management District.  It defined the rights and obligations of the Seminole Tribe and the State of Florida involving tribal water rights and the environment on the Big Cypress, Brighton and Hollywood Seminole Reservations.

Beginning in 2000, he was directly involved in the development of Seminole Hard Rock Hotels & Casinos in Tampa and Hollywood, Fla.  Both opened in 2004 under the leadership of Seminole Gaming CEO Jim Allen, whom Jim Shore was responsible for hiring.

"Mr. Shore was by far the most humble individual that I've ever worked for in my career," said Allen.  "He would never take credit for all of the amazing things that have occurred under not just his leadership, but his wisdom."

Jim Shore was instrumental in the establishment of the Seminole Tribe's first Gaming Compact with the State of Florida in 2007, which resulted in the introduction of slot machines and table games at Seminole casinos.  That same year, the Seminole Tribe of Florida purchased Hard Rock International, marking the first acquisition of a global corporation by a North American tribe.

He was integral in forging a new Gaming Compact between the Seminole Tribe and the State of Florida during 2021.  The Compact was signed by the Chairman of the Seminole Tribe and Florida's Governor.  It was overwhelmingly passed by the Florida Legislature and approved by the U.S. Department of the Interior.  The new Compact expanded the Tribe's gaming operations to include craps and roulette at its six Florida casinos, as well as sports betting throughout Florida via computers located on Seminole reservation land.

Earlier this year, the legal team headed by Jim Shore won a jury verdict of more than $800 million on behalf of the children of the Seminole Tribe of Florida against Wells Fargo Bank.  The jury ordered Wells Fargo to pay for mismanaging a trust fund set up on behalf of the Tribe's children.

In 2005, Jim Shore was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Laws Degree from Florida State University, Tallahassee.  He was inducted into Stetson Law's Hall of Fame in 2010.

In 2020, Shore won the American Bar Association's Energy, Environment and Resources Government Attorney of the Year Award for his legal work and achievements in matters dealing with the environment, energy and natural resources.  He was inducted into the prestigious Gaming Hall of Fame of the American Gaming Association in 2021.

In 2022, he established the Jim Shore Scholarship at Stetson University to encourage and support other Seminoles to cultivate careers in which they can use their skills to help the Tribe prosper.  In 2024, he told a Stetson University writer, "The continued success of the Seminole Tribe of Florida depends on the education of future generations of its members."

In 2023, the Stetson Lawyers' Alumni Association honored Shore with its Ben Willard Award, which recognizes, "alumni whose tireless efforts and humanitarian work have demonstrably benefited Floridians."

Jim Shore is survived by his brother, Eddie Shore (Jenny), sisters Geneva Shore, Nancy Shore and Elizabeth Shore, nephews Paladin Willie, Everett Osceola, Duane Jones, Elton Shore and Robbie Shore and nieces Stacy Jones, Beverly Shore, Brenda Shore and Holly Shore, plus many great nieces and nephews, and cousins.  Hundreds of tribal members and non-tribal members attended a graveside funeral service and burial for Jim Shore on Monday, Sept. 1.

Online donations to the Jim Shore Scholarship Fund at Stetson University may be made at https://www.stetson.edu/administration/development/give/ in honor and memory of Jim Shore by specifying a Tribute Gift in the name of Jim Shore and a Designation for the Jim Shore Scholarship Fund.

SOURCE Seminole Tribe of Florida