James P. Collins

Jim Collins is a founding partner of the firm and a noted trial attorney with experience in a wide range of personal injury and wrongful death cases. In particular, Mr. Collins successfully prosecuted several catastrophic injury cases involving the improper mounting of automobile tires by the auto service industry. His groundbreaking, precedent-setting investigations resulted in greater safeguards for the consumer and a peer reviewed CALSPAN Safety and Engineering (SAE) technical report that led to major changes in the tire-installation industry. Mr. Collins has emerged as a leading authority on single vehicle accidents and rollovers on wet road surfaces due to misplaced tires and has taught several courses at Infineon Race Track to other lawyers on vehicle dynamics and handling.

Mr. Collins was born and raised in San Francisco.  After graduating from Saint Ignatius High School in 1970, Mr. Collins attended the University of California at Berkeley, class of 1975, with a degree is Business Administration.  After graduating from the University of San Francisco Law School in 1980, Mr. Collins began his career as an assistant district attorney in San Francisco. Mr. Collins then went to work with noted aviation attorney Jerry Sterns, where he woked on numerous aviation and helicopter accidents including the Lynyrd Skynyrd crash and the 1979 Aerostar 600P crash in San Diego, CA. In 1987, he founded O'Reilly & Collins with Terry O'Reilly, his former teammate from the Old Blues Rugby Club of Berkeley.

In 2001, Mr. Collins retired from legal practice to become a high school teacher. After receiving his teaching credential, he taught algebra at Menlo Atherton High School beginning in 2003. Mr. Collins also advised the debate team and coached freshman football. In addition, he coached rugby at a local public high school for the Pacific Green Rugby team. Mr. Collins resumed his legal practice on June 1, 2009.

Areas of Practice

    Personal Injury
    Wrongful Death

Litigation Percentage

    100% of Practice Devoted to Litigation

Bar Admissions

    California, 1980

Education

    University of San Francisco Law School, San Francisco, CA
    J.D.
    University of California, Berkeley, CA
    B.S.

Professional Associations and Memberships

    Consumer Attorneys of San Mateo County, Director
    Santa Clara County Trial Lawyers Association, Member
    American Bar Association, Litigation Section, Member
    Western Trial Lawyers Association, Member