Marian Williams Scalise Shareholder Richardson Plowden, Myrtle Beach

A third-generation lawyer, Marian Williams Scalise was Richardson Plowden’s first female shareholder. She focuses her practice on medical malpractice, professional malpractice, and insurance defense.

Growing up in a family of lawyers, she resisted following in their footsteps and aspired to become a doctor. A part-time job at a local hospital changed her mind.

A nurse contracted AIDS after accidentally pricking herself with a needle, Scalise recalls.

“This nurse’s life-altering event made me reconsider my future, so I pivoted to mix my passion for medicine with the law,” she says.

Scalise’s mother had often partnered with attorney Don Richardson as co-counsel to defend medical professionals, and he hired Scalise as a law clerk to work on his medical  malpractice defense team. She never left.

“Even today, I still organize my files just as he taught me,” she says.

Scalise says she finds medical malpractice defense both challenging and gratifying.

“It allows me to learn about complex medical procedures and terminology while interacting with brilliant clients, experts, and opposing counsel,” she says.