Seymour James Jr. is so soft-spoken that leaders of the New York State Bar Association decided last year that he would need an enhanced sound system to make himself heard while presiding over a noisy House of Delegates, one of his responsibilities as the organization’s president-elect.

But James’ admirers say that the veteran criminal defense attorney will have no trouble making himself understood as president of the 77,000-member bar group, a position he assumes today.