Lawyers in the News June 2023

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New associations 

Jake Modla has joined Cromer, Babb, Porter, & Hicks in Rock Hill as senior counsel. His practice involves representing litigants in employment and labor law on the employee side in York County and surrounding counties, including Chester, Cherokee, Gaston, Lancaster, Mecklenburg and Union.  

Grant Wills has joined Baker, Donelson’s Charleston office as an associate in the labor and employment group.   

Joining Collins & Lacy in the Columbia office as law school clerks for the summer are Adrienne “Addy” Lowery and Kyle H. Cooper, both of whom are rising 3Ls at the University of South Carolina School of Law.  

Jack Pringle, CIPP-US, has joined the Columbia office of Nelson, Mullins, Riley & Scarborough as a partner. With more than 25 years of experience as a practicing lawyer, Pringle will focus on information privacy and technology law.  

Burnie Maybank III, former two-time director of the Department of Revenue, has joined Adams and Reese in the intersection of business and government practice. A state and local tax law and economic development attorney, he will be working in the firm’s Charleston and Columbia offices. 

Michelle Jones has joined the Spartanburg office of FordHarrison as counsel, where she will focus on management-side labor and employment law. 

Promotions 

Offit, Kurman announced the promotion of two attorneys to principal in the Spartanburg office, both members of the family law practice group: Stephen Chryst and Heather Scalzo.  

Honors 

Henry M. “Buzz” Burwell was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette by the government of Japan on April 29. The 1988 founder and former chair of the Japan-America Association of South Carolina, Burwell’s work contributed to the promotion of interregional exchange and a stronger understanding between Japan and the United States. As a senior partner in the Greenville office of Nelson, Mullins, Riley & Scarborough, he co-leads its international practice group and focuses on the fields of automotive, aviation, business immigration, customs and trade.   

The University of South Carolina School of Law Alumni Council has awarded Robinson, Gray, Stepp, & Lafitte member Becky Laffitte the Platinum Compleat Lawyer Award. The award recognizes alumni attorneys for outstanding civic and professional accomplishments. A fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and the Litigation Counsel of America, her practice focuses on disputes involving alternative dispute resolution, construction, dram shops, health care, insurance coverage, premises liability, product liability and commercial transportation and trucking.  

Professional groups 

Haynsworth, Sinkler, Boyd partner Mary Caskey has been appointed to the Bankruptcy and Debtor-Creditor Law Specialization Advisory Board for the South Carolina Supreme Court. Caskey chairs the firm’s bankruptcy and recovery practice group.  

 Bennett Crites III, a partner at Shumaker in Charleston, where he serves as litigation and disputes regional service line leader, has been elected to the American Board of Trial Advocates. Crites advises businesses and individuals on complex legal issues and is a certified circuit court mediator and arbitrator. 

Dan Ballou, a partner with Morton & Gettys in Rock Hill, has joined the South Carolina Law Initiative, a new project started by the University of South Carolina School of Law at the request of the General Assembly to advise the legislature on the likely effect on state law of proposed legislation. A civil litigator with experience at all levels of federal and state courts, Ballou represents clients in hearings and trials in the court system as well as before local councils, agencies and commissions. •