Mr. Collins spent the first 11 years of his career as a lawyer in private practice and was a mergers & acquisitions Partner in the New York office of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, focusing on M&A within financial services. Jim’s legal experience also included representing public and private entities, including private equity sponsors, in mergers and acquisitions and private and public equity and debt financings.

After leaving Morgan Lewis, Mr. Collins was General Counsel and Head of Operations at Silver Lane Advisors, a boutique investment bank. While at Silver Lane, Jim was primarily responsible for legal matters, as well as day-to-day operations within finance, accounting, compliance, HR and operations. Jim’s role also included providing deal support to the investment banking teams, given his specialty in the area. Jim was a minority owner of Silver Lane, which was sold to Raymond James in April 2019. In connection with the sale, Jim became an Associate General Counsel in Global Equities and Investment Banking at Raymond James. In that role, Jim assisted investment bankers on day-to-day legal matters. Jim also oversaw legal matters for Investment Banking in Europe and assisted with special projects. Jim founded a management consulting firm in May 2022, focusing on short and long-term strategic planning, succession planning, transaction planning, employee incentive programs and operational reviews.

Mr. Collins received his BA in Economics from College of the Holy Cross in 2001 and his Juris Doctor from NYU School of Law in 2006.