[COLUMBIA, S.C.] Collins & Lacy, P.C. is pleased to announce that Joel W. Collins was awarded the 2010 Chapter Service Award by the South Carolina Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). The award was created this year by the Executive Committee of the South Carolina Chapter of ABOTA and will be named after Mr. Collins and called the Joel W. Collins South Carolina ABOTA Chapter Service Award in future years.
The award was created and awarded to Joel for his exemplary service to the South Carolina Chapter. Mr. Collins was recognized for his efforts for ABOTA on a national level, having served as President of the ABOTA Foundation in 2008, as well as his tireless work on developing the first James Otis Lecture Program for South Carolina which was host to 135 selected high school students at the South Carolina State House on September 18, 2009.
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.
Mr. Collins was the 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 has been listed in the Best Lawyers in America® for his work in white collar criminal defense, and has also been selected as a South Carolina Super Lawyer. He is also listed as one of South Carolina’s preeminent attorneys according to Martindale-Hubbell.
