Kevin H Collins

Practice Areas

“My motto is results not excuses,” Kevin Collins says. That can be a tall order when your litigation practice deals with big-dollar, emotional conflicts within businesses or families. “I find solutions for difficult and contentious family and business disputes,” he says.

When handling high-stakes estate litigation, construction contractor disputes, or business matters dealing with fraud, breach of contract, and corporate dissolution, Kevin navigates clients through stressful, highly emotional situations.

In estate litigation, Kevin often deals with multimillion-dollar farm controversies that result when an owner dies and one or more of the heirs seek to challenge the disposition of the estate. “Helping people get through that process intact in order to allow them to focus on what’s important in life once that episode concludes is what brings me back to my desk each day.”

His patience, persistence, determination, and creativity (and his self-deprecating sense of humor when appropriate) help keep his cases on track—letting him set aside his opponents’ distractions and disruptions intended to derail his focus on the key matters. “A lot of what I’m doing is just bringing people in off the ledge, telling them to take a breath and to refocus,” he says. One client’s description of Kevin’s determination: “He described me as a Jack Russell terrier.”

Of course, determination alone doesn’t get the job done. Kevin continually explores creative ways to persuade judges and litigants to see his client’s side. Because he believes an inability to communicate lies at the genesis of all controversy, Kevin attempts to reestablish communication. “By the time it gets to me, there is little or no communication, and there is a complete denial of the other side’s perspective,” he says. “People might need to hear the same message repeatedly. Or you need to reshape the message to get the behavior that you’re trying to obtain.”

As complex and stressful as his civil trial practice is, Kevin never considered any other career option. He was raised around lawyers and took their lessons to heart. Some days he’s amazed at the opportunities that his law practice offers—despite its 24/7 demands. “We take it with us,” he says. “Sometimes you wonder why you do what you do. Other times you’re thinking Why would I do anything else?”