About James McCollom, Jr

James P. McCollom, Jr. was born at Rota Naval Station, Spain. He grew up in two cultures with family in Spain and in Texas.

He was raised in Evanston, Illinois and then Brussels, Belgium and later Madrid, Spain and Chappaqua, New York where he graduated from Horace Greeley High School in 1984.

He is a 1988 graduate of The University of Texas School of Law, a 1984 magna cum laude graduate of Duke University, and studied in Paris through a New York University spring semester program in 1983.

Professional licenses and admissions:
McCollom has practiced law in Texas since November 1988. He is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of Texas, the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Western Districts of Texas, and the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and Sixth Circuits and the U.S. Supreme Court.

McCollom started his legal career as an assistant county attorney in Corpus Christi in Nueces County, Texas where he prosecuted over 30 jury trials in misdemeanor criminal cases. He also worked in the civil division representing the County in child protective cases, mental commitment hearings, federal civil litigation, and family protective orders. The county attorney’s office provided an excellent opportunity to learn how to try a case; to learn about how local government works; and to learn about the realities of conflicts in the daily lives of ordinary citizens.

McCollom mediated numerous cases as a community volunteer in both English and in Spanish for the Nueces County Dispute Resolution Center and achieved an excellent record of negotiated agreements. He received training in both mediation and family law mediation.

McCollom worked as a solo practitioner in Corpus Christi and Beeville, Texas mostly practicing criminal defense and family law. He also represented juveniles.

McCollom then had an opportunity to work with several well-known immigration attorneys: Joe DeMott (San Antonio), Robert Crane (Pasadena, Texas), and Bruce Coane (Houston). But then McCollom opened his own law practice once again in 2009.