Ellen M. Adams

Ellen M. Adams is managing partner of Collins & Lacy, P.C., a statewide business defense firm. As managing partner, Ellen joins an elite group. Only 15 percent of managing partners in law firms across the country are women, according to the American Bar Association (ABA).    Ellen's 20-year career at Collins & Lacy has involved more than 1,000 cases.  She practices in workers' compensation  and also has experience in general litigation and professional liability. She has argued cases to the Full Workers’ Compensation Commission, Circuit Court, Court of Appeals and Supreme Court.  Ellen is a native of Cayce, S.C. and received her Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina School of Law.  She has been repeatedly named one of the Best Lawyers in America©.

Read our newsletters for the latest information and updates on legal issues related to the practice of Workers' Compensation, Employment and Insurance law in South Carolina. 

Practice Focus/Trial Experience

• Workers’ Compensation: defense of self-insured and uninsured employers and workers’ compensation insurance carriers. 
• Professional Negligence: claims involving medical malpractice claims and negligence claims of chiropractors, nurses and medical technicians.

Awards and Recognition

• Best Lawyers© (2009-2012)

Professional, Civic and Community Involvement

• South Carolina Defense Trial Attorneys' Association
• South Carolina Workers’ Compensation Educational Association
• Defense Research Institute  
• South Carolina Bar 
• Richland County Bar Association
• International Society of  Primerus Law Firms
• The Claims and Litigation Management Alliance

Papers, Presentations and Publications 

• "Keeping Your Business Safe: Securing Your Bottom Line by Avoiding Litigation," Workers' Compensation Prevention Measures, South Carolina National Safety Council Seminar, August 2011
• "Back to Basics: A Quick Guide to Workers’ Compensation in South Carolina," South Carolina Workers' Compensation Law Blog, March 2011
• Sanctions, Pleadings, Appeals, and Medical Under the Revised Workers’ Comp Act, SC Bar, September 2007
• Should I Depose the Doctor and What Should I Ask?, SC Workers' Compensation Section of the SC Bar, July, 2006
• Note, Undisclosed Recordings of Conversations by Private Attorneys, South Carolina Law Review, 1991

Speaking Engagements

• Ellen Adams to Speak at IROPS Conference, November 13, 2009, The New Nurse Case Management Regulations