[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.kentuckycourage.com\/blog\/attorneys-mckinnley-morgan-roy-collins-20-years-partners\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.kentuckycourage.com\/blog\/attorneys-mckinnley-morgan-roy-collins-20-years-partners\/","headline":"Attorneys McKinnley Morgan and Roy Collins Mark 20 Years of Kentucky Courage\u2122","name":"Attorneys McKinnley Morgan and Roy Collins Mark 20 Years of Kentucky Courage\u2122","description":"It\u2019s time for a celebration. Lawyers Roy Collins and McKinnley Morgan are celebrating a milestone\u2014 20 years of practicing law together. The two partners at Morgan, Collins, Yeast & Salyer recently reminisced about their longstanding partnership that has provided Kentucky Courage\u2122 to so many people struggling to overcome serious injuries. Before Roy Joined McKinnley Today, […]","datePublished":"2020-05-14","dateModified":"2025-04-12","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.kentuckycourage.com\/blog\/author\/mckinnleymorgan\/#Person","name":"Mckinnley Morgan","url":"https:\/\/www.kentuckycourage.com\/blog\/author\/mckinnleymorgan\/","identifier":14,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bf85300712aac5f2f5566e909ece4e89ea565ca52ef8557588a55d3dd859d24c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bf85300712aac5f2f5566e909ece4e89ea565ca52ef8557588a55d3dd859d24c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Morgan, Collins, Yeast & Salyer","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.kentuckycourage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/18-mcy-logo-blue.png","url":"https:\/\/www.kentuckycourage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/18-mcy-logo-blue.png","width":300,"height":300}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.kentuckycourage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/kentuckycourage-sm-post-banner-7524613-v2.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.kentuckycourage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/kentuckycourage-sm-post-banner-7524613-v2.jpg","height":628,"width":1200},"url":"https:\/\/www.kentuckycourage.com\/blog\/attorneys-mckinnley-morgan-roy-collins-20-years-partners\/","about":["Firm News"],"wordCount":975,"articleBody":"It\u2019s time for a celebration. Lawyers Roy Collins and McKinnley Morgan are celebrating a milestone\u2014 20 years of practicing law together. The two partners at Morgan, Collins, Yeast & Salyer recently reminisced about their longstanding partnership that has provided Kentucky Courage\u2122 to so many people struggling to overcome serious injuries.Before Roy Joined McKinnleyToday, the law firm has eight offices in cities and towns across Kentucky. Back in the early days, McKinnley and his then-law partner, Rickey Bailey, practiced law in the eastern Kentucky counties of Clay and Leslie.Roy entered the picture when he graduated from law school and took a job with a Laurel County insurance defense law firm. Roy was on the opposite side in several car wreck cases where McKinnley and Bailey represented the accident victims. Asked who won those cases, Roy replied: \u201cIt wasn\u2019t a matter of winning. It was a matter of not losing as much as they wanted.\u201d No matter which side won or lost, Roy made a strong, positive impression on McKinnley.\u201cMy deal always was to try to grow a practice by learning who was on the other side of cases,\u201d McKinnley said. \u201cRoy was there working hard for less than I thought Rickey and I could afford to pay him. He was doing a good enough job that we decided to steal him.\u201dRoy Joins McKinnley’s Law FirmRoy joined McKinnley\u2019s law firm as an associate in April 2000. His role in the firm changed dramatically when fate intervened. Roy recalled, \u201cI\u2019d been there about three months when we got a telephone call, late Saturday night or early Sunday morning, that Rickey Bailey, McKinnley\u2019s partner, had been killed in an ATV crash.\u201d The tragic accident occurred on July 16, 2000.\u201cThree or four days later, McKinnley and I had dinner, walked down his driveway and shook hands on a deal,\u201d Roy said. \u201cAnd that has been our deal ever since.\u201dMcKinnley now focuses on workers\u2019 compensation and Social Security cases, while Roy handles personal injury matters. However, in the early days, the two handled cases together. Their first case together was a medical malpractice case \u2013 and a memorable one at that.McKinnley and Roy’s First Case as PartnersThe two lawyers went to visit a client who was injured during a gallbladder operation. \u201cThe lady was hallucinating,\u201d said McKinnley. \u201cShe was seeing folks that weren\u2019t there. \u201cHer sister\u2019s name was Elizabeth,\u201d recalled McKinnley. \u201cI asked her, \u2018Have you seen Elizabeth recently?\u2019 She said, \u2018I sure have. The night before last. She was standing at the foot of my bed.\u2019 Roy and McKinnley both knew that Elizabeth had been dead for 10-15 years.\u201cThe woman had developed an infection that had caused her to hallucinate,\u201d Roy said. \u201cThe infection was caused by a gallbladder operation where the surgeon nicked her bowel but failed to recognize it. She became septic and had all sorts of issues.\u201d Roy and McKinnley took the woman\u2019s case to trial and won a seven-figure verdict.Thus began the legal bond that has lasted for 20 years — and counting. In today\u2019s legal world, where lawyers often come and go, the length of time Roy and McKinnley have been together is nothing short of a true accomplishment. \u201cI don\u2019t know of another plaintiffs\u2019 group that has made it for 20 years,\u201d Roy said. \u201cI don\u2019t either,\u201d McKinnley said.How have they done it? The two partners say they have learned how to settle their own differences.\u201cWhen any situation arose that we needed to talk about, we could lock the door, cook dinner, resolve it and move on,\u201d McKinnley said. \u201cThat\u2019s happened several times. There\u2019s nobody that will be a partner in business for 20 years and not have a disagreement.\u201dRoy also gives credit to the strength and tenure of the firm\u2019s support team. \u201cWe\u2019ve got some key staff that were here when I came,\u201d Roy said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got a core group of folks, and a couple of them have been here more than 25 years. They have helped us immensely. \u201cWe can\u2019t be too bad of folks if we can keep people around for 25 years,\u201d Roy added.Roy and McKinnley said they sometimes differ on their legal philosophies. \u201cIn the workers\u2019 comp arena, the rules are more relaxed and not as rigid as the civil world,\u201d McKinnley said. \u201cRoy thinks I let the defense get away with murder in many cases.\u201d Said Roy, \u201cI guess it\u2019s not as much a legal philosophy as it is a business philosophy. We both agree that if you take care of the client, they\u2019ll take care of you. If you take the time to talk to these folks and treat them like human beings \u2013 and not like a number \u2013 that will pay dividends greatly.\u201dShared Goals and SuccessThe two lawyers say they share simple goals. \u201cThe first common goal we have is to try to get people as well as they can get medically,\u201d McKinnley said. \u201cOur second simple goal is to get as much damn money as we can for our clients.\u201d Not surprisingly, the law firm has earned a stellar reputation. \u201cWe have represented four or five generations of families,\u201d Roy said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been with them so long that now they invite us to the family reunion.\u201dWith success, the firm has expanded and added more attorneys and partners, allowing it to serve more clients. Asked what the gift is for the 20-year anniversary, McKinnley quipped: \u201cIt\u2019s a bottle of Old Pogue.\u201d Old Pogue is a premium brand of Kentucky bourbon whiskey.Now that the lawyers have been together 20 years, what will the next 20 years look like?\u201cI\u2019m going to be fishing,\u201d McKinnley said.\u201cI hope to be right there with him fishing, too,\u201d Roy said."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog","item":"https:\/\/www.kentuckycourage.com\/blog\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Attorneys McKinnley Morgan and Roy Collins Mark 20 Years of Kentucky Courage\u2122","item":"https:\/\/www.kentuckycourage.com\/blog\/attorneys-mckinnley-morgan-roy-collins-20-years-partners\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]