James H. McCormick is a Partner at Empire Search Partners. James concentrates on consulting attorneys of all levels across a range of practice areas, including employee benefits and executive compensation, tax, labor, employment, corporate and restructuring.

Before joining Empire Search Partners, James practiced law for six years as an employee benefits and executive compensation attorney at Proskauer Rose and prior to that at Jones Day, each in New York. James’ practice covered the full scope of transactional and non-transactional employee benefits and executive compensation matters, including mergers and acquisitions, bankruptcies, securities compliance, capital markets, corporate governance, initial public offerings, executive compensation planning, fiduciary compliance, investments of pension plan assets, employment and severance arrangements, and dispute resolution. His representative client base included public and private companies, partnerships and joint ventures, compensation committees, individual executives, management teams and private equity funds.

Prior to attending law school, James worked for a leading alternative dispute resolution service provider in San Francisco, CA.

Through James’ experience as an attorney on both sides of the table during employment and compensation-related negotiations, he is particularly sensitive to the complexities and personal nature of any and all career decisions. As such, he takes a strategic approach to every dimension of his consulting practice by building long-term relationships and providing ongoing and tailored advice to candidates and clients alike.

James received his J.D. from Tulane University Law School, where he was the Senior Notes and Comments Editor for the Tulane Journal of International and Comparative Law. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan. During law school, James was a judicial intern to the Hon. Richard F. Suhrheinrich, U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.