Prior to re-joining Cozen O’ Connor in 2021, Jim served as the chairman of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. Jim was first appointed by President Trump to fill the remaining portion of a vacancy on the commission in May 2017 and was later appointed by the president as chairman of the agency and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in July 2019. As chairman, Jim was in charge of an independent, quasi-judicial federal agency that is not part of OSHA or the U.S. Department of Labor and conducts trials and appeals over litigation brought by the U.S. Department of Labor against employers. During Jim’s tenure on the commission, he participated in several landmark decisions including cases involving OSHA’s Process Safety Management Standard and OSHA’s use of the statute’s “General Duty Clause” in prosecuting cases against employers involving workplace violence, heat stress, and other workplace hazards. 

Prior to his service with the commission, Jim had a distinguished career in private practice for nearly four decades in labor and employment and workplace safety and health law working with clients in a wide range of industries. From 2000 to 2003, Jim served as vice-president of labor and employment law and deputy general counsel for Comcast. During that time he also served as the corporation’s chief spokesperson at collective bargaining negotiations with the Teamsters, Electrical Workers, and Communication Workers’ unions. 

Jim advises clients on high stakes matters before all three branches of government, including regulatory and enforcement matters and litigation involving several administrative agencies, including the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and various state OSHA offices in cases involving significant citations and litigation as well as the National Labor Relations Board and numerous state and federal courts. He has extensive experience representing employers in union-related matters, including unfair labor practice proceedings, collective bargaining negotiations, grievance/arbitration hearings, and union representation matters. 

Jim has significant experience in construction labor matters and has represented members of both Associated General Contractors and Associated Builders and Contractors in unfair labor practice litigation, as well as matters involving multi-employer pension and health and welfare funds and before state regulatory agencies. He has served as national labor and employment counsel for wide range of clients in the transportation/warehousing, steel manufacturing, and health care industries and is recognized as one of the leading authorities in occupational safety and health matters. He is the former management chair of the ABA Occupational Safety and Health Committee of the Labor and Employment Law Section. 

Jim is a frequent speaker on workplace safety and health matters, and he has spoken before such organizations as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, Associated General Contractors, Inc., and various other employer trade associations.