A Teacher with Class

A Teacher with Class

By Kara Gormley Meador

It’s like stepping into a time warp. I’d liken it to hopping into that silver DeLorean in the movie Back to the Future. One minute you’re in a cubicle at work typing away – then zap – the next minute, you’re sitting in a classroom with a dozen or so co-ed’s wearing trendy ankle bracelets, t-shirts and flip flops.

The young peoples’ garb is diametrically opposed to the immaculately dressed man in a beige pressed suit leading the discussion. As the students settled, the teacher reached inside his coat pocket and pulled out the most fascinating little leather bound book. The Good Book, I thought?  No, but some attorneys will probably tell you as far as literature is concerned, it’s the next best thing. Joel Collins was carrying the United States Constitution.

Collins is a founding partner of Collins & Lacy, law firm. This semester, he’s teaching a class on the Founding Fathers to students at the University of South Carolina Honors College.

Inside the Flinn Building on the Horseshoe, the shrill ring of a cell phone reverberated throughout this small classroom’s concrete walls. For a moment the students looked panicked, each hoping that they had not forgotten to put their phone on vibrate.

“It’s for you,” Collins said as he jokingly handed his phone to the student sitting next to him. Then he answered it.

“Is he back already?” Collins questioned. There was no doubt that he was speaking about a judge in a case.

“Good, good,”Collins said with a sheepish grin. “I’m in the middle of my class. I’ll call you back later.”  The cell phone disappeared, and he picked up his discussion without missing a tick.

I sat there   wondering if the dozen or so young faces sitting around the boardroom table had a real appreciation as to what was happening.  Collins had literally run from the courtroom to the classroom. His hearing ended with minutes to spare, and he rushed to the University, switching gears like a Formula One race car driver.   

Collins got animated when he started talking history. He quoted Greek philosophers, and when it came to discussion on the Constitutional Convention of 1787, he pauses to point out South Carolina delegate Charles Pinckney’s controversial role there.  Pinckney claimed to be the youngest delegate, but it was later discovered that he lied about his age. Apparently the brash Pinckney also claimed to have submitted a draft that he said was the basis of the final Constitution, something that has been disregarded by historians. Pinckney would later become the 37^th Governor of the Palmetto State.

Collins gave the students a pop quiz on their first day of class, harsh even for those considered to be some of the best and the brightest. I wasn’t there to see it, but I know about the test because I failed it – miserably. A few days before his class started,  Collins brought his quiz into my department  rattled off some questions. While he didn’t mark my forehead with red ink, I know it wasn’t good. Maybe if I had a teacher like him back in the day, I’d remember more now.

I’m not sure if it’s because I’m older and looking at things in a different light, or maybe I just skipped too many college history classes, but I felt like I garnered a semester’s worth of knowledge in a single class.

I went to the class on The Constitution with the intention of only staying 20 minutes or so, enough time to gather the information I needed to write a brief article. I ended up staying the entire hour and 15 minutes.  

More Information

Joel Collins helped found and will be one of many prominent speakers at the upcoming James Otis Lecture at the State House on Friday September 17, 2010.

Collins worked with The South Carolina chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) to create the inaugural event last year. One student from every high school in the state has been invited to attend the event as a “James Otis Scholar.”

Collins says, "The lecture is designed to acknowledge the wisdom, courage, mistakes and success of our predecessors who made critical contributions to develop our country's right of self government and preservation of individual liberties."

This year's featured speaker is the Honorable Mathew J. Perry.  SCETV is offering a special broadcast to schools statewide. For more information contact Kara Gormley Meador at (803)422-6081 or kmeador@collinsandlacy.com