James Perkins

James G. Perkins is the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Compliance Officer of Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP, a San Diego-headquartered, AmLaw 200 business law firm. For roughly two decades he has led the firm's non-legal operations, spanning finance, human resources, administration, marketing and business development, information services, and knowledge management. He sits on the firm's Management Committee alongside its partner leadership (confirmed continuing in that role in the firm's January 2018 leadership announcement). In 2012 he additionally took on the role of Chief Compliance Officer, standing up an Enterprise Risk Management program and serving as Co-Chair — together with the firm's General Counsel — of Procopio's Office of Risk Management and Compliance.

Perkins was born and educated in England, earning his undergraduate and doctoral degrees there before relocating to the United States in 1976. Public bios credit him with a doctorate (the US Rugby Foundation lists a PhD from the University of Surrey and an MBA from the University of Chicago; Wikipedia associates his PhD with the University of Chicago — sources differ on the specifics, so the doctorate is the firmly established fact). He is widely known professionally as "James G. Perkins, PhD."

Before and alongside his legal-industry management career, Perkins had a notable second life in rugby. After moving to the U.S. he played for the Chicago Lions, then built a coaching career that included the Midwest Thunderbirds/All-Stars and San Diego's OMBAC, culminating in his tenure as head coach of the United States Men's National Rugby Team (the "Eagles") in the late 1980s through the early 1990s. He coached the Eagles at the 1991 Rugby World Cup and served as a director of the United States of America Rugby Football Union (USA Rugby). He remains active in the sport as a member of the US Rugby Foundation's Board of Governors.

Beyond his firm role, Perkins is recognized as a speaker and consultant on law firm management and legal compliance, appearing at industry programs such as the American Conference Institute, and Procopio is a member of the Meritas global alliance of independent law firms in which he has been listed.

• No public evidence indicates that James G. Perkins operates as an angel investor or makes seed-stage venture investments. He is a law firm operating/compliance executive.
• His professional "thesis," insofar as one exists publicly, concerns law firm operations, enterprise risk management, and compliance — building and running the business infrastructure of a mid-to-large law firm rather than deploying investment capital.
• If a founder was directed to him as an "investor," that is most likely a data-aggregator misclassification (the `@procopio.com` email and San Diego 619 phone number belong to the law firm, not to an investment fund).