Senior Judge Colins was born on June 9, 1946, in Philadelphia. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1968, and earned his law degree from Villanova University School of Law in 1971. He graduated from the United States Army Infantry School, Fort Benning, GA in 1972, and served as a Captain in the United States Army Reserves.
A member of the Philadelphia Bar Association and the Pennsylvania and American Bar Associations, Judge Colins is also past Chair of the Judicial Conduct Board and the PBA’s Constitutional Review Commission. He is a Fellow of the Philadelphia College of Physicians.
Judge Colins served as judge of the Philadelphia Municipal Court and was elected in 1984 to the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, where he served until 2008, including two terms as President Judge. In 2008, he retired from the Commonwealth Court, and became Shareholder at the law firm Cozen O’Connor. He returned to the Commonwealth Court in 2012 as a Senior Judge, and served there until January 1, 2019, when he was appointed by the Supreme Court to serve on the Superior Court.
