Practice Areas
- Commercial Transportation
- Products Liability
- Professional Liability
- Retail / Hospitality / Entertainment
Industries
- Consumer Products
- Excess Insurance
- Heating & Air Conditioning
- Heavy Equipment
- Hotels/Resorts
- Insurance Agents/Brokers
- Pharmaceuticals
- Primary Insurance
- Rail Transportation
- Restaurants/Clubs
- Retailers
- Trucking
Education
- University of South Carolina, Juris Doctor
- The Citadel, B.S. Business Administration
Bar & Court Admissions
- South Carolina
- U.S. District of South Carolina
- U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals
News
- Collins & Lacy almost Triples the Number of Attorneys Selected as South Carolina Super Lawyers® and Rising Stars®
- Primerus Paradigm Magazine Features Collins & Lacy's Community Service Initiatives
- Founding Partner Joel Collins Explains What Being a Primerus Member Means to Collins & Lacy
- Collins & Lacy, P.C. Expands Statewide Footprint with Opening of Charleston Office
- Collins & Lacy in the Blogosphere
Client Alerts
J. Bennett Crites III
Bennett Crites is a shareholder in Collins & Lacy's Charleston office practicing in products liability, premises liability, automobile negligence, defamation, insurance bad faith and professional liability. Bennett also practices in commercial trucking law and has experience in litigating cases from minor injury to wrongful death and catastrophic injury. South Carolina Super Lawyers® has consecutively identified Bennett as a Rising Star® in 2012 and 2013. Rising Stars are attorneys, 40 years of age or younger, who have been practicing for 10 years or less. There are no more than 2.5 percent of attorneys in the state named to the list.
Prior to joining Collins & Lacy, Bennett was an attorney with a law firm in Charleston, South Carolina. He also served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable R. Markley Dennis, Jr. and has corporate experience in the financial sector. Bennett earned his law degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law and his undergraduate degree in Business Administration from the Citadel.
Practice Focus/Trial Experience
- Products Liability: representing regional and national clients in the following industries -- heavy equipment, consumer products, building materials, chemicals, firearms, food products and sporting goods.
- Premises Liability: representing retail and restaurant clients in personal injury actions arising from "slip and fall" and "trip and fall" cases.
- Commercial Transportation: representing local, regional and national trucking interests, owner-operators, charter bus operators, loggers and insurers of such entities, in litigation venues throughout South Carolina.
- Professional Liability: representing a variety of licensed professionals including health care providers, pharmacists, financial advisors, attorneys and insurance brokers and agents.
Awards and Recognition
Professional, Civic and Community Involvement
- South Carolina Trial Attorneys' Association
- Transportation Lawyers Association
- Defense Research Institute
- Professionalism & Ethics Committee - Blog Chair
- International Society of Primerus Law Firms
- American Bar Association
- South Carolina Bar Association
- Charleston County Bar Association
- Greater Charleston Cannon Street YMCA
- Vice Chairman of Board of Directors
- Charleston County School District Capital Improvements Program
- Oversight Committee, Advisory Panel
Papers, Presentations & Publications
- "Premises Liability Not Just for Businesses - Homeowners Beware," South Carolina Retail/Hospitality Law Blog, September 2012
- "Doscher's has it in the bag: A local Charleston grocery store prevails over Penn National Insurance Company in coverage dispute," South Carolina Retail/Hospitality Law Blog, June 2012