About Betsy
Betsy P. Collins practices in the firm’s litigation group. Betsy is a seasoned litigator whose career spans over two decades including tenure as in-house counsel for a large life insurance company. Her litigation practice includes class action litigation, complex commercial and business litigation as well as securities litigation with an emphasis on responsibilities of directors and officers including related insurance coverage issues. In addition, Betsy has a wide-ranging insurance litigation practice that has included cases involving securities products of life insurance companies and other insurance-related securities, race distinct mortality pricing, burial insurance, claims practices, “vanishing premium” provisions, child-term riders, deceptive pricing, market conduct, sales practices, policy exchange programs, unfair competition, non-compete agreements, and life insurance company taxation.
Betsy is a skilled trial advocate whose courtroom ability was highlighted by DRI’s president in the forward to “A Career in the Courtroom: A Different Model of the Success of Women Who Try Cases,” (2004) (“I have had the pleasure of trying two jury cases with [Betsy], one in Birmingham, Alabama, and one in Kansas City, Kansas. I have seen it so clearly in both cities, that Betsy communicates with women jurors differently than I do! And her communication is powerful and effective.”) Betsy successfully represented insurance clients in litigation matters related to unfair competition including jury trials in 2002 and 2004 involving issues with regard to variable annuity products, benefit structures, sales practices and pricing that resulted in verdicts on behalf of her client for $50 million and $45 million respectively, the first of which was listed by Verdict Search as number 52 in The Top 100 Verdicts of 2002. Past trial victories also include a defense verdict in 2004 on behalf of director defendants accused of fraud by silence and breach of fiduciary duty in connection with their simultaneous service on the boards of two public companies with conflicting interests.
Betsy has authored and co-authored numerous publications, the most recent including:
“Boards Advised to Oversee E-discovery by Tapping IT, Compliance, Other Functions,” Corporate Accountability, quoted (June 2010)
“Navigating Through a Sea of Documents: How Model Rule of Professional Conduct 4.4(b), Federal Rule of Evidence 502 and Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5) Will Impact The Way We Litigate And Try Cases,” ABA Section of Litigation 2010 Annual Meeting, white paper (April 2010)
“Hot Issues In Discovery: 2009 In Review,” ABA Section of Litigation 2010 Annual Meeting, white paper (April 2010)
“Six Sigma, the Discovery Process and the Corporate Legal Department,” ABA Section of Litigation 2009 Annual Meeting, white paper (April 2009)
“Will Conduct Exclusions Prove to be a Panacea for Professional Liability Carriers?” ABA Section of Litigation 2009 Annual Meeting, white paper (April 2009)
“Fault line: Coverage Litigation Arising Out of the Mortgage Industry’s Meltdown,” The Daily Report (February 2009)
“The Impact of Market Timing and Late Trading Probe on Variable Annuities: Increased Threat of Enforcement Actions and Expansive Regulations,” Vol. 9 Electronic Banking and Commerce Report 13 (May 2004)
“Variable Annuities: Fortuitous Beneficiaries of the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act of 1998,” Mealey’s Emerging Securities Litigation (May 2003)
“Life Insurance Law of Alabama,” XXXV Association of Life Insurance Counsel Proceedings 3 (1997)
Recently, Betsy has spoken on professional liability of in-house counsel at the Atlanta Bar Association’s Corporate Counsel Section 2010 meeting; professional liability in a volatile economy at the ABA Section of Litigation’s 2009 annual meeting; Six Sigma and corporate law departments for the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Atlanta chapter; recent developments in class actions at the ABA Section of Litigation’s 2008 annual meeting; and the so-called “CSI effect” in jury trials at the ABA Section of Litigation’s 2007 annual meeting and at The Kentucky Bar Association’s 2008 annual meeting.
Betsy is admitted to practice in Georgia and Alabama. She is a member of the Atlanta Bar Association; Birmingham Bar Association; Georgia Association of Women Lawyers; Professional Liability Underwriting Society; Association of Life Insurance Counsel; and the American Bar Association, for which she serves as co-chair of the Section of Litigation’s Pre-Trial Practice and Discovery Committee and as co-chair of a programming subcommittee.
Betsy was named in Guide to the World’s Leading Insurance & Reinsurance Lawyers, 7th Edition and Who’s Who Legal for Insurance in Georgia in 2007. In addition, she was selected for inclusion in the 2010 Georgia Super Lawyers.
What is your favorite thing about the law?
I love the creativity involved with implementing a strategy for a case or solving a client’s problem. I also find it exhilarating to prepare for a hearing or a trial and to walk into court ready for the battle.
What community projects are you involved in?
The Buckhead Church
Atlanta Area Advisory Board, The American Diabetes Association
Father of the Year Council
What was your first job?
I grew up in rural South Alabama where there were not a lot of job opportunities for kids other than farm-related jobs so when I was about 11 or 12 I worked packing tomatoes. The next year I picked and packed tomatoes. You could make more money picking tomatoes, but you really had to hustle and, it was incredibly hot, back-breaking work.
What are your hobbies?
I enjoy gardening, reading, sewing, writing, fishing, golf, and horseback riding, but most of these are a rare treat!
What advice would you give to a young student in law school?
I wish someone had advised me to start my career by doing some government or public interest work. I think it provides unique experiences. I often tell students to at least consider it because it is easier to start out in one of those jobs than to go back to one later.
What is your favorite lawyer joke?
Q: What’s the difference between a woman lawyer and a barracuda?
A: A little bit of lipstick!
How do you define a “good day?”
At work a “good day” is moving from one thing to the next so intently that I forget to eat lunch. At leisure, a good day is working from dawn to dusk in the yard or sitting on the beach all day with a good book.
How do you spend your weekend?
On Friday nights I like to see a good movie - usually a comedy. We always seem to go to Home Depot on Saturday morning. If it’s pretty outside [and work doesn’t call], I might work outside all day. Sunday mornings we go to early church services and then to Waffle House. Some Sunday evenings we work in the kitchen at church for our daughters’ youth group.