Cooke takes over as SC Bar president

Charleston attorney Dawes Cooke was installed as the president of the South Carolina Bar May 24 at the bar’s House of Delegates meeting at Isle of Palms.

The oath of office was administered by Judge Stephanie P. McDonald of the South Carolina Court of Appeals.

Cooke, who practices civil litigation, including professional liability, products liability and commercial litigation with Barnwell, Whaley, Patterson & Helms, also serves as a mediator and arbitrator. He lectures often about alternative dispute resolution.

A Beaufort native, Cooke earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia before earning his J.D. from the University of South Carolina, graduating cum laude.

In 1993, he received an Honorary Doctor of Laws from The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina.

Cooke previously served as a law clerk for U.S. District Judge Sol Blatt Jr.

He is the past president of the Charleston chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates, past president of the Charleston County Bar Association, past president of the James L. Petigru American Inn of Court and past chair of the South Carolina Bar’s Commission on Judicial Independence and Impartiality.

He’s also a member of the Bar’s Dispute Resolution Section Council and Professional Liability Committee.

In addition to serving as a leader in the legal community, he has previously served as president of the Board of Directors of East Cooper Community Outreach and the East Cooper Breakfast Rotary Club. He and his wife, Helen, have three children and one grandchild.

Other officers being sworn in at the meeting are President-Elect Beverly Carroll, of Rock Hill, Treasurer Roy Laney, of Columbia and Secretary Mary Sharp, of Beaufort. Rusty Infinger, of Greenville, will serve as House of Delegates chair.

The following bar members will also begin serving in new leadership roles:

Board Members: Marti Bluestein, of Columbia, Michael D. Brown, of Spartanburg and John Robinson, of Charleston

Young Lawyer Representatives: Lindsay Joyner and Sheila Willis, both of Columbia

ABA State Bar Delegates: Alice Paylor, of Charleston and Jack Muench, of Florence

Senior Lawyers Division President: Darra Cothran, of Lexington

Young Lawyers Division President: Ashleigh Wilson, of Columbia