Heather James

Deputy General Counsel

Heather James serves as the Deputy General Counsel for Optum, supporting various government contract lines of business within the enterprise. She previously served as Senior Associate General Counsel and is a member of LHI’s Senior Leadership team and oversees the LHI legal and contracting team. In her role, James provides legal and risk management advice throughout the organization on a variety of matters, including procurement support; contract negotiations; regulatory compliance; mergers and acquisitions; government inquiries and audits; and vendor contracting and subcontracting.

James has more than 20 years of comprehensive government contracts law experience, both in-house and in private practice, with demonstrated government contracting legal expertise in the defense, intelligence, healthcare IT and cybersecurity industries.

After earning her Bachelor of Arts at George Mason University, she went on to receive her law degree from the George Mason University School of Law.