Jim is a 1988 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy with a B.S. in Computer Science, a 1996 graduate of the University of Maryland School of Law, and a 30-year member of the Maryland Bar. During a 20-year career as a Naval Officer, Jim’s duty assignments included several submarines, an aircraft carrier, serving as the Secretary of the Navy’s Special Assistant for Legal and Legislative Matters, and as the Director of the Navy’s Office of General Litigation.

Following his Navy retirement in 2008, Jim served as a Senior Technical Manager at the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration/Naval Reactors. He was then named as the first General Counsel at the U.S. Navy’s Fleet Cyber Command. In 2013, he became the General Counsel for the National Security Agency’s Inspector General and ultimately was named the Chief of the Inspector General’s Office of Investigations and then the Acting Deputy Inspector General. Following an assignment as the Chief of NSA’s Office of Personnel Security Jim ended his government career in 2025 while serving as NSA’s Deputy Director of Legislative, State, and Local Affairs.

Jim and Trish, his wife of 35 years, reside in Odenton Maryland. They are blessed with three wonderful adult children and one grandson.