[COLUMBIA, S.C., June 6, 2011] – Collins & Lacy, P.C. is pleased to announce founding partner Joel W. Collins, Jr. has the distinguished honor of being appointed by the president of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) to serve on the 2011 Board of Trustees. Collins is one of only two people from South Carolina to receive such an appointment from the organization’s national president. Additionally, the president of the ABOTA Foundation has tapped Collins to serve as Trustee Emeritus on the 2011 ABOTA Foundation Board.
ABOTA is a national organization established in 1991 to provide education to the American public about the right to trial by jury and to promote the professional education of trial attorneys. The South Carolina Chapter of ABOTA also provides educational programs to other attorneys in South Carolina, students at the University of South Carolina Law School and to high school students in South Carolina through its James Otis Lecture Series on National Constitution Day. In September 2009, Collins was the program director for the inaugural James Otis Lecture in the South Carolina State House, where more than 100 selected high school students learned about the history of the United States Constitution.
Collins co-founded Collins & Lacy in 1982. His reputation in the courtroom and professional standing has led his peers to consider him one of South Carolina’s preeminent attorneys, according to Martindale-Hubbell. He also is named one of the Best Lawyers in America© and a South Carolina Super Lawyer©. In 2009, he was awarded the ABOTA Masters in Trial Award, and in 2002, Collins was the recipient of the Jeter E. Rhodes Jr., Trial Lawyer of the Year Award, presented by the South Carolina Chapter of ABOTA.
