James Philemon Holcombe (September 20, 1820 – August 22, 1873) was an American law professor, legal author and Confederate politician and diplomat.

He authored several important legal treatises, including An Introduction to Equity Jurisprudence.

Although his parents freed their slaves and later moved to Indiana, Holcombe spoke widely in favor of slavery.

Holcombe had a political theory based on ideas of hierarchy, which explicitly reversed Jefferson's theme from the Declaration of Independence that all people are created equal.

This theme was also developed by Holcombe's UVA colleague Albert Taylor Bledsoe and George Frederick Holmes.