Jim Haynes brings extensive experience to the Torridon Group as Senior Advisor. He is Executive Vice President and Strategic Counselor of Blacklake Group (a privately held holding company) and concurrently advises several early and mid-stage privately held emerging technology companies.
Twice a partner in a major national law firm, Jim also previously served as a corporate executive at four public companies: General Dynamics Corporation (as Staff Vice President and Associate General Counsel from 1996-1999), Chevron Corporation (as Chief Corporate Counsel from 2008-2012); Siga Technologies, Inc. (as EVP & General Counsel from 2012-2016); and CSRA Inc. (as EVP, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary from 2016-2018, at the end of which the company was acquired for $9.7B.).
Jim has held two presidentially appointed offices requiring Senate confirmation: General Counsel of the Department of the Army from 1990-1993, and General Counsel of the Department of Defense from 2001-2008. Chief Legal Officer and Designated Agency Ethics Officer of both departments during highly consequential times, Jim also served as Director of the Defense Legal Services Agency from 2001-2008.
Jim earned degrees from Davidson College and Harvard Law School, and holds an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Stetson Law School. He is the recipient of a significant number of awards and medals from the Departments of Defense, Justice, Army, Navy, and Air Force. Jim holds a patent issued in 2025: https://patents.justia.com/patent/12367458.
In early 1999, Jim lived in Almaty, Kazakhstan, volunteering assistance in managing microcredit services in Central Asia for Mercy Corps International. An Eagle Scout as a youth, Jim served ten years as a trustee of the Greater New York City Councils of the Boy Scouts of America from 2013-2023. He has also served as director or advisor on many other boards.
He currently is a director of three boards: Labrynth (labrynth.ai), the Supreme Court Historical Society, and the William T. Coleman, Jr. Foundation.