Charleston Business Magazine presents the inaugural Legal Elite of the Lowcountry, honoring area attorneys. Winners are chosen not by our staff but by local attorneys themselves. Legal Elite is the only program in the region that gives every active attorney the opportunity to participate. 

Attorneys are allowed to nominate members of their own firm, but for each in-firm nomination there must also be an out-of-firm nomination. Voters are not allowed to vote for themselves.

This year, we feature those lawyers who earned the top votes in 20 categories.  The winners are the Legal Elite for 2017, and we are pleased to honor them.

Michael Brickman

Richardson, Patrick, Westbrook & Brickman, LLC 

Laurel R.S. Blair | Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, LLP

Jennifer Blumenthal | McNair Law Firm

William T. Dawson III | Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, LLP

W. Foster Gaillard | Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, LLP

Michael Hickerson | Fisher Broyles

Cynthia J. Lowery | Moore & Van Allen

Mark Sharpe | K&L Gates

Suzanne Campbell | Campbell Law Firm

Michael Drose | Drose Law Firm

Wendi M. Freeman | Freeman Wine, LLC

John Hagerty | Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, LLP

J. Ronald Jones Jr. | Nexsen Pruet

Sean Markham | Markham Law Firm, LLC

Charles P. Summerall IV | Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, LLP

Charles J. Baker III | Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, LLP

Robert Brunson | Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, LLP

Drew Butler | Richardson Plowden

Robert Byrd | Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein

Magalie A. Creech | Finkel Law Firm LLC

Bennett Crites | Smith Moore Leatherwood LLP

GP Diminich | Smith Moore Leatherwood LLP

Carl Edwards | McAngus, Goudelock and Courie

Greg L. Horton | Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, LLP

Katie Monoc | Smith Moore Leatherwood LLP

Sean A. O'Connor | Finkel Law Firm LLC

Edward Pritchard | Pritchard Law Group

Mary Ramsay | Smith Moore Leatherwood LLP

Sid Boone | McNair Law Firm

David J. Crawford | Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, LLP

Morris A. Ellison | Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, LLP

W. Foster Gaillard | Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, LLP

David Humphreys | Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd

Carrie Lewis | Finkel Law Firm LLC

Matthew Norton | K&L Gates

Gray Taylor | Buist Byars & Taylor

James M. Wilson | Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, LLP

Mike Bowers | Smith Moore Leatherwood LLP

Drew Epting | Andrew K. Epting, Jr., LLC

C. Allen Gibson Jr. | Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, LLP

Jenny Costa Honeycutt | Best Honeycutt, PA

P. Gunnar Nistad | Gallivan, White & Boyd, P.A.

Mike Seetings | Leath Bouch & Seekings

JD Smith | McAngus, Goudelock and Courie

Troy Thames | Wilson Jones Carter and Baxley

James E. Weatherholtz | Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, LLP

Jim Buxton | Buxton & Collie

Jason K. Locklair | Moore & Van Allen

Robert Pearce | Pavilion Development Company

Susan M.  Smythe | Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, LLP

Chris Staubes | Staubes Law Firm

Shawn Willis | Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, LLP

Scott Bischoff | Savage Law Firm

Cameron Blazer | Blazer Law Firm

Matthew Hubbell | Hubbell Law Firm

Benjamin Lewis | The Circuit Public Defender's Office

Edward Phipps | Phipps Law Firm

Chris Skipper | Skipper Law Firm

Brady Vannoy | Vannoy & Murphy

Lauren E. Williams | Williams & Walsh, LLC

Tim Bouch | Leath Bouch & Seekings

Blan Hollman | Southern Environmental Law Center

Sean D. Houseal | Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, LLP

Randolph R. Lowell | Willoughby & Hoefer, P.A.

James D. Myrick | Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, LLP

Blanton O'Neal | Hood Law Firm

Wendy Wilkie Parker | Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, LLP

Anne Frances Bleecker | The Bleecker Law Firm, LLC

Elizabeth Rast  Crider | The Bleecker Law Firm, LLC

Amanda Haselden | Stokes & Haselden, LLC

Julianne Stokes | Stokes & Haselden, LLC

Mac McQuillin | Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd

Katie Monoc | Smith Moore Leatherwood LLP

Jack Smith | Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, LLP

Merritt Abney | Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, LLP

J. Marshall Allen | Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, LLP

Annette Drachman | MUSC

Laura Evans | Smith Moore Leatherwood LLP

Joseph P. Griffith Jr. | Joe Griffith Law Firm, LLC

Eli Poliakoff | Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, LLP

Hoyt Rowell | Richardson Patrick Westbrook & Brichman LLC

Bennett Crites | Smith Moore Leatherwood LLP

Mike Ethridge | Ethridge Law Group

Elizabeth Fulton | Pritchard Law Group

Henry E. Grimball | Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, LLP

Katie Monoc | Smith Moore Leatherwood LLP

Grayson Smith | Gallivan, White & Boyd, P.A.

Troy Thames | Wilson Jones Carter and Baxley

Cherie Blackburn | Nexsen Pruet

David S. Cox | Barnwell Whaley

B.C. Killough | Barnwell Whaley

Ernest "Lip" Lipscomb | Barnwell Whaley

Jason Scott Luck | Garret Law Offices

Scott Bluestein | Bluestein Law Firm,

Julius Sam Hines | K&L Gates

Bradish Waring | Nexsen Pruet

Nancy Bloodgood | Bloodgood and Sanders

Hal Frampton | Gordon & Rees

Amy Gaffney | Gaffney Lewis & Edwards, LLC

Amy Jenkins | McAngus, Goudelock and Courie

David B. McCormack | Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, LLP

Lucy Sanders | Bloodgood and Sanders

David S. Yandle | Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, LLP

Julian Allen | Allen Law Firm

David Hoyle | Motley Rice

James Moore III | Evans Moore, LLC

Rachel Phipps | Phipps Law Firm

Thomas White | Steinberg Law Firm

David H. Crawford | Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, LLP

Jessica Dawson | McAngus, Goudelock and Courie

Carrie Lewis | Finkel Law Firm LLC

Chaun Pflug | Pflug Law Firm

David Santos | McNair Law Firm

Mark Weeks | Weeks Irvine

Edward G.R. Bennett | Evans, Carter, Kunes & Bennett, PA

C. Michael Branham | Young Clement Rivers

Raymond W. Burroughs | Young Clement Rivers

Jennifer Davis | Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, LLP

G.P. Diminich | Smith Moore Leatherwood LLP

David Foley | Taylor Foley

Paul M. Lynch | Moore & Van Allen

Graeme F. Philp | Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, LLP

Kenneth F. Smith | Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, LLP

Allison Carter | Wilson Jones Carter and Baxley

Erin Hantske Edwards | McAngus, Goudelock and Courie

George Miars | Wilson Jones Carter and Baxley

Anne Noonan | Wilson Jones Carter and Baxley

Allison Nussbaum | McAngus, Goudelock and Courie

Reese M. Stidham IV | Howell & Christmas

Sarah Verstraten | Wilson Jones Carter and Baxley