[January 24, 2012, Columbia, SC ] Collins & Lacy, P.C. is pleased to announce that founding partners, Joel Collins and Stan Lacy have been selected as recipients of the South Carolina Lawyers Weekly 2012 Leadership in the Law Awards. They will be recognized at the Leadership in the Law awards dinner on Thursday, March 15th, 2012 at the Francis Marion Hotel in downtown Charleston.
The awards were designed to spotlight those members of the legal community whose leadership, both in the legal profession and in the community, has made a positive impact on our state. The recipients were selected by a panel of judges based on their outstanding achievement in the following key areas: dedication to the legal profession, achievement in their legal career, along with mentoring and community involvement.
Joel Collins, together with Stan Lacy, co-founded Collins & Lacy in 1984 as a firm that would concentrate primarily on business defense litigation. Mr. Collins received his Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina School of Law and currently chairs the firm’s Professional Liability practice group. He was the recipient of the 2002 Jeter E. Rhodes, Jr., Trial Lawyer of the Year Award, presented by the South Carolina Chapter of ABOTA. In 2009, Mr. Collins founded, through the South Carolina Chapter of ABOTA, the Constitution Day James Otis Scholar Lecture program, which recognizes students who excel in the study of History. 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. Joel’s 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.
Stan Lacy graduated from the University of Virginia in 1967 and earned his law degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1974. South Carolina Governor Carroll Campbell appointed him to the Advisory Committee for the Improvement of Workers’ Compensation Laws in South Carolina, where he worked with the legislature to review and revise legislation affecting the state’s workers’ compensation system. Mr. Lacy began teaching workers’ compensation as an adjunct instructor at the USC School of Law in 1981 and has continued to teach ever since. He was the recipient of the South Carolina Workers’ Compensation Educational Association (SCWCEA) 2011 Lifetime Service Award. Mr. Lacy is AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell, has been selected by his peers for seven consecutive years to be included in The Best Lawyers in America, and was most recently honored by Best Lawyers as the 2012 Columbia, S.C. Lawyer of the Year for Workers’ Compensation Law.
Managing Partner, Ellen Adams commented, “We are thrilled that both of our founding partners are being recognized for their leadership and dedication not only to our firm, but also to the legal profession, and the South Carolina community. Their leadership helps to set the tone that inspires us to be the best at what we do each day.”
