Bruce W. Collins
Partner

Securities and Director and Officer Litigation, Business Litigation, Corporate Governance, Class Actions, White Collar Crime

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Phone: 214-855-3018
Direct Fax: 214-758-3718
Email: bcollins@ccsb.com
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Mr. Collins is the Managing Partner of Carrington Coleman.  The primary emphasis of his practice is on securities and corporate governance litigation. He also handles a variety of other business litigation matters. 

Mr. Collins handles a variety of major securities matters, including class action lawsuits, shareholder derivative lawsuits, insider trading actions, and securities fraud actions. Mr. Collins has also represented companies and directors and officers sued in class actions brought in connection with mergers or company failures, including high profile company failures. Mr. Collins has significant experience representing Special Litigation Committees. He also has significant experience representing brokerage firms in major litigation.

He also has significant expertise in securities arbitration. He routinely represents firms and brokers in arbitration brought by customers of the firm and in arbitration between brokerage firms and employees. He has also handled a variety of regulatory matters ranging from insider trading investigations to major regulatory actions brought against broker dealers and their supervisory personnel.

Mr. Collins’ litigation practice also involves a variety of business disputes, including corporate governance and partnership disputes, real estate litigation, contract cases, noncompete suits, employment disputes, construction litigation, and oil and gas litigation.  Mr. Collins has also handled significant arbitration in the real estate, health care, and consumer product fields and has successfully litigated enforcement of international arbitration agreements.

Mr. Collins has been listed in Best Lawyers in America since 2011 in the areas of Commercial Litigation, Litigation – Regulatory Enforcement (SEC, Telecom, Energy), and Litigation – Securities.  He has been named in D Magazine as one of the “Best Lawyers in Dallas" for 2012 and 2013, and has also been recognized as a "Super Lawyer" in business litigation each year since that award began in 2003.

Bruce has spent his career at Carrington Coleman and says he loves coming to work because of, “the excitement and fun of new challenges and the support and relationships I have with my colleagues”

He would like his clients to know, "that I will [be] personally devoted to your case. It won't be just another case.”

Representative Matters

$6B Lawsuit Dismissed

Was lead counsel in a decisive victory for a securities broker-dealer, securing dismissal of a multi-billion dollar lawsuit on the eve of trial.  The suit, brought by a major insurance company and one of its subsidiaries, was pending in New Jersey state court.  The lawsuit alleged New Jersey RICO, tortious interference, and commercial disparagement claims relating to the firm’s analyst coverage of the plaintiffs.

Enron

Was lead counsel for Ken Lay in the civil and regulatory litigation following Enron’s failure and was a lead trial counsel in his criminal trial.

Other Litigation of Note

Was lead counsel in a successful one-week bench trial in federal court in Kansas City in which a hedge fund sought up to $12M in damages against a public company relating to an investment in preferred stock.  The court ruled against the plaintiff on all counts.

Represented outside directors in high-profile option backdating derivative litigation in state and federal courts in Texas and Delaware.

Represented outside directors and general counsel in securities class actions and related bankruptcy proceedings arising out of failure of nation’s largest food wholesaler.

Represented chief financial officer in regulatory, class action, and derivative proceedings arising out of earnings manipulation claims against a technology company.

Represented major pension fund in two complex battles over governance and taxation involving the Las Colinas development.

Represented a major reinsurance brokerage company in a non-compete case involving the departure of the most senior officers of a public company.

Education

University of Texas
J.D., with high honors, 1978
Member, Texas Law Review, 1976-78
Order of the Coif

Stanford University
B.A., 1975

Judicial Clerkship

Honorable Robert M. Hill, United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, 1978-79

Admittances

Texas 1978

U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western Districts of Texas

U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Fifth and Eleventh Circuits

Associations/Affiliations

Fellow: American Bar Foundation, Dallas Bar Foundation, Texas Bar Foundation.

Speeches/Publications

Moderator, Investigations: Whistleblowers in Today’s Online World, North Texas Chapter, National Association of Corporate Directors, May 10, 2011.

Panel member, CEO Succession: The Board’s Role in Handling Planned and Unplanned Changes at the Top, North Texas Chapter, National Association of Corporate Directors, May 12, 2009.

Speaker, Dallas Bar Association Ethics Fest, Honest Services Fraud: The Thin Line Between Civil and Criminal Exposure for Fiduciary Breaches, May 7, 2009.

Panel member, ABA Section of Litigation Teleconference, Keeping It Real: Making White Collar Defendants Blue Collar Friendly, June 17, 2008.

Moderator, Internal Investigations: Overseeing a Risky Process and Finding the Right Balance, North Texas Chapter, National Association of Corporate Directors, June 10, 2008.

Speaker, The G. Thomas Van Bebber Ninth Annual Ethics in Litigation Forum Presented By The Earl E. Connor American Inn of Court, Ethics Lessons Learned from Enron, Kansas City, Kansas, June 5, 2008.

Courts Struggle to Define the Parameters of Honest Services Fraud, December, 2007.

Bankruptcy, M&A and Corporate Governance: The Interplay of State and Federal Civil and Criminal Law, 26th Annual Jay L. Westbrook Bankruptcy Conference, November 2007.

The Perils of Dismissing Enron as “Different,” American Bar Association Section of Litigation Annual Conference, April 2007.

Enron: Trying the Corporate Case of the Century, American Bar Association Section of Litigation Annual Conference, April 12, 2007.

Enron: A post-verdict panel discussion with the lawyers who tried the case, Dallas Bar Association, September 27, 2006.

Of Enron and the Thompson Memo, State Bar of Texas Antitrust and Business Litigation Section, November 3, 2006.

Speaker, SIA, NASD, and NYSE forums.