[COLUMBIA, S.C.,] Collins & Lacy, P.C. is pleased to announce that Joel W. Collins was awarded the 2009 “Masters in Trial Award” by the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) Foundation during their recent national board of directors meeting in Indian Wells, California.
The ABOTA Foundation was 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. Mr. Collins served as the 2008 President of the Board of Trustees of the ABOTA Foundation, and was a featured speaker at the 2008 ABOTA-sponsored conference, Judges and Attorneys in Interaction: The Commonalities and the Differences in Portuguese and American Legal Systems in Lisbon, Portugal. He has also played a key role in numerous “Masters in Trial” presentations throughout the U.S. In September, 2009, Mr. Collins was the program director for the First Annual James Otis Lecture in the South Carolina State House, where approximately 135 selected high school students learned about the history of the United States Constitution. Regarding this year’s award, Tom Harkness, the 2009 ABOTA Foundation President said, “Joel has exemplified a commitment of service to the Foundation’s professional education program. Through his efforts and dedication, ABOTA is now a truly international organization with a vast array of educational programs that seek to protect our precious rights.”
Mr. Collins was recipient of the 2002 Jeter E. Rhodes, Jr., Trial Lawyer of the Year Award, presented by the South Carolina Chapter of ABOTA. He is a member of the International Society of Barristers, Litigation Counsel of America, and serves as a board member of the South Carolina Chapter of the National Safety Council. In 2005, he received the James Petigru Compleat Lawyer Award from the University of South Carolina School of Law. Mr. Collins is listed as one of South Carolina’s preeminent attorneys according to Martindale-Hubbell.
