Remembering the Honorable Matthew J. Perry

GaffneyLewis remembers with affection and honor, Matthew J. Perry on the 10^th anniversary of his passing.  Those of us privileged to have appeared before him recall with great affection his gentle demeanor and pleasing temperament, his empathy and fairness to all, and his profound love of the law. 

Chief United States District Judge Joseph Anderson once wrote “to say that Matthew Perry was good in the courtroom is like saying Mickey Mantle knew how to swing a bat . . . Aristotle taught that lawyers and judges should be the very personification of justice. Matthew J. Perry Jr. comes as close as any person I have known to meeting Aristotle’s ideal.”

As a lawyer, Perry led many landmark civil rights cases, including the case that resulted in the integration of Clemson.  He was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to the United States District Court in 1979 and was South Carolina’s first African American Federal Judge.  He remained active as a Judge until his death in 2011.  The Matthew J. Perry Federal Courthouse in Columbia is a fitting tribute to such a distinguished jurist, lawyer, and activist.

The Town of Summerville hired Rebecca Vance to be the Town’s Administrator in January and extended a 3-year contract for her services. After just 16 months of Vance’s stellar performance, the Town’s Council met in a special session on Saturday, June 19 and voted to terminate Vance.

Amy Gaffney of the Employment Team at GaffneyLewis has been engaged to represent Vance in determining if there was some impermissible motive for the Town’s vote or any legal claims Vance could bring for her firing.

GaffneyLewis LLC is pleased to announce that Randi Lynn Roberts, Nashiba Boyd and Robert Blain have been promoted to equity partner status. Roberts and Boyd are based in the firm’s Columbia office and Blain is in Charleston serving as the managing partner for the Charleston office.

“We are extraordinarily pleased to have Rob, Nashiba and Randi Lynn join us as equity partners,” said Regina Hollins Lewis. “Each of them brings exceptional skill and impressive professional credentials and we look forward to continuing to provide excellent service to our clients.”

Roberts, who has been with the firm since 2014, focuses her practice on tort defense, including catastrophic injury, pharmaceutical professional negligence, and products liability, primarily representing national retailers in cases across the state of South Carolina. Prior to joining the firm, Roberts first served as a law clerk to Judge Thomas A. Russo on the circuit court and thereafter as a law clerk to Chief Judge James E. Lockemy, of the South Carolina Court of Appeals. She holds degrees from the University of South Carolina (2007) and the Charleston School of Law (2010). Roberts is AV rated by Martindale Hubbell.

Boyd joined the firm in 2017 and also focuses her practice in the areas of tort defense and commercial litigation, including catastrophic injury, pharmaceutical professional negligence, and products liability. Boyd has over 15 years of civil litigation experience and also practices complex, multi-jurisdictional commercial defense. Boyd is a graduate of Clemson University (2001) and Howard University School of Law (2004). She is AV rated by Martindale Hubbell.

Blain started his legal career with the firm in 2012 and returned to the firm in 2019. He represents businesses and individuals in commercial and general litigation matters, including premises liability, personal injury, product liability, insurance defense, and other tort matters. His litigation experience includes handling a variety of complex civil cases with significant exposure in the state and federal courts of South Carolina. Blain is a graduate of Duke University (2006) and the University of South Carolina School of Law (2011).

“We congratulate these remarkable attorneys on this outstanding achievement,” said Amy Gaffney. “GaffneyLewis prides itself on providing first-rate service and value to our clients. The superb work of these new partners has played a pivotal role in the success and growth of our firm.”

​April 30, 2021 – GaffneyLewis LLC is proud to announce that its founding partners have been named to the 2021 South Carolina Super Lawyers List. Each year, no more than five percent of the lawyers in the state are selected by the research team at Super Lawyers to receive this recognition.

GaffneyLewis attorneys honored as South Carolina Super Lawyers in 2021 are:

Amy Gaffney (Charleston) – Employment and Labor

Regina Hollins Lewis (Columbia) – Personal Injury – General

Super Lawyers, a Thomson Reuters business, is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement.

The annual selections are made using a patented multiphase process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, an independent research evaluation of candidates and peer reviews by practice area.

Meet Marian Wright Edelman

In our final post celebrating Women’s History Month GaffneyLewis LLC is proud to introduce you to Marian Wright Edelman, an American activist for children’s rights.

Hailing from Bennettsville, South Carolina, Edelman was born on June 6, 1939, to Arthur Jerome Wright, a Baptist minister, and Maggie Leola Bowen.

Edelman has been a life-long advocate for disadvantaged Americans and is the founder of the Children’s Defense Fund. Her work in this area has influenced leaders including Martin Luther King Jr.

After graduating from high school in 1956 she attended Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia. Edelman was awarded a Merrill Scholarship which afforded her the opportunity to travel and study abroad. In 1959 she returned to Spelman for her senior year and became involved in the civil rights movement. In 1960, Edelman and 77 other students were arrested during a sit-in at segregated Atlanta restaurants.She graduated from Spelman as valedictorian of her class. She went on to study law and enrolled at Yale Law School earning her Juris Doctor in 1963. She would later become the first black woman elected to the Yale Board of Trustees (1971).

In 1964 Edelman became the first African American woman to be admitted to the Mississippi Bar and she started her legal career with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund representing civil rights activists.

Edelman first met her husband, Peter, an assistant to Robert F. Kennedy, when Kennedy was touring the Mississippi Delta. The two married in 1968 and relocated to Washington, D.C.

In 1968 Edelman founded the Washington Research Project, a public interest law firm. She also worked on the Poor People’s Campaign for Martin Luther King Jr. and became more involved in issues relating to childhood development and the protection of children.

As her activism and support for underprivileged children advanced, Edelman founded the Children’s Defense Fund to be a voice for children of color, poor children, and those with disabilities. Edelman was instrumental in getting the United State Congress to overhaul the foster care system, and to protect children who are disabled, homeless, or abused.

Edelman is also the author of several books focusing on the importance of children’s rights and protecting them. Her passion for children and the lifelong journey to protect them is reflected in her words, “as adults, we are responsible for meeting the needs of children. It is our moral obligation. We brought about their births and their lives, and they cannot fend for themselves.”

In 2020, Edelman became president emerita of the Children’s Defense Fund, but her passion for the work and commitment to children continues.

Thank you, Marian Wright Edelman for the being the light for the children who need it. You have touched so many lives and your work will continue for years to come.