HAMLET — One of Richmond County’s own has returned to the area to start her own private law practice, moving from helping large corporations save money to helping the “99 percent” save money.

Adthea “A.J.” Collins completed her undergraduate degree at Campbell University, becoming the first in her family to graduate from college — her father worked in cotton mills and her mother is disabled — but didn’t stop there, continuing on to Cambridge University to get her master’s degree and returned to Campbell to study trust and wealth management, graduating in 2014.

She interned for District Attorney Reece Saunders and after graduating from school, worked in mergers and acquisitions in Raleigh for three and a half years where she was involved in negotiating billion-dollar deals between large banks. In moving to Hamlet, Collins will be dealing with much smaller fortunes — and she never planned to start her own practice — but being close to family and the opportunity to serve the local community made the transition worth it.

Collins said what inspired her to pursue wealth management was watching her family work hard to earn their living and then be forced to give it away.

“I developed a fascination with wealth, how to build it and best use it,” Collins said. “My father instilled in me the value of money, why you should work for it and not be frivolous with it.”

Collins said she would like to hold a seminar on estate planning for the 99 percent, who she says often assume that you have to be a millionaire to hire someone to manage their estate.

Sworn in on Dec. 31, Collins’ focus areas will be estate planning, family, real estate, civil and criminal, and business law, as well as grant writing.

She is working out of the Crawford Professional Center in Hamlet next to Food Lion. For more information visit www.ajcollinslaw.com.

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By Gavin Stone

Staff Writer

Reach Gavin Stone at 910-817-2674 or [email protected].