Collie F. James, IV

Counseling clients in the oil and gas, construction, healthcare, food and supplement, cosmetic and beauty, pharmaceutical, and consumer product industries, Collie advises on many issues. These include consumer-oriented regulations contained in Proposition 65, the California Automatic Subscription Renewal Law, the Safe Cosmetics Act, and California’s universal waste regulations. He has also resolved potential class action claims under the California Consumer Legal Remedies Act regarding high-end, antiaging cosmetics, personal care products, and health supplements.

As lead trial lawyer in litigation involving more than 1,000 plaintiffs with chemical-exposure claims, Collie obtained summary judgment or dismissal against several hundred plaintiffs. Following those courtroom victories, many more plaintiffs accepted settlements on terms highly favorable to the client. In another lawsuit involving more than 1,000 plaintiffs claiming chemical exposure in and around Beverly Hills High School, he defended an oil and gas storage company and helped prepare motions for summary judgment that successfully excluded plaintiffs’ experts and resolved all of the first 12 plaintiffs’ claims before trial. Collie also has significant experience in handling high-profile crisis management matters, most recently representing a utility during a significant natural gas leak and in the litigation that followed.

Collie also represents clients in actions brought by state and county officials and private plaintiffs under California’s Unfair Competition and False Advertising laws. In one, he has defended an international pharmaceutical company in a broad-based matter brought by two California counties on behalf of the state challenging the marketing and branding of opioid medications. He has also represented clients in actions brought by other California counties regarding waste management practices and the sufficiency of website disclosures. Finally, Collie has litigated class actions brought by private citizens under the same laws concerning a variety of industries, including food and beverages, health supplements, and cosmetics.

Collie is also committed to community and philanthropic interests. He is the co-founder and treasurer of the Maddie James Foundation, established in honor of the memory of his five-year-old daughter and which funded the building of a seaside learning center bearing her name at the Ocean Institute in Dana Point, CA. He also serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Jessie Rees Foundation, which supports children and their families around the world who are facing pediatric cancer, and sits on the Governance Committee of the local chapter of Make-A-Wish.  He is a past president of the Orange County Bar Foundation and board member of the Federal Bar Association and leads a local legal aid clinic.