REGINALD W. BELCHER SHAREHOLDER, TURNER PADGET COLUMBIA
Reggie Belcher enjoys representing employers who value and respect their employees, and treat them even better than the law requires.
As an employment lawyer with Turner Padget in Columbia, Belcher’s goal is to help his clients excel, and that makes him feel he is contributing to both the business community and the legal profession.
Before enrolling in law school, Belcher already had two business degrees, and thought of law school was a natural progression.
“Growing up, I didn’t know any lawyers or much about the legal profession, but I believed that somebody with two business degrees should represent and defend employers,” he said.
He also credits his parents with supporting his career pursuits.
“I did not know much about the legal profession, but my parents encouraged me to take advantage of my educational opportunities,” he said. “I knew that getting a law degree was tough, and I’ve always been competitive, so I decided to give law school a shot to see how I would stack up.”
Bev Carroll says the television show “Perry Mason” sparked her interest in becoming a lawyer.
But after graduating from Winthrop University, her career took a detour when she began teaching history and coaching basketball, she said in an interview on The Bandit Room, a Rock Hill podcast. She loved it.
“Teaching was one of the best experiences of my life,” she said.
Carroll’s mother encouraged her to stay on the path to a career in law, so she enrolled at the University of South Carolina and started her career practicing insurance defense. She eventually migrated into employment law and enjoys it.
Today she represents employers as an attorney, mediator and certified employment law specialist at Morton & Gettys in Rock Hill.
A former president of the South Carolina Bar, Carroll says she loves her career for its learning opportunities.
“Every day I learn something new, and I think that is what has kept me engaged in this career so long,” she said.
“I grew up watching him prepare for trials, and I even got to see him argue in the courtroom on a few occasions,” Dunlap said. “His enthusiasm for the law was contagious.”
Today, she is a shareholder in Baker Donelson’s Charleston office, where she represents a variety of employers as a member of the labor and employment group.
“I chose employment law because it centers on the treatment of people in the place where they often spend the majority of their time,” she said. “It is rarely, if ever, boring and offers the opportunity to learn about business operations across a vast array of industries.”
Dunlap especially cherishes the problem-solving aspect of working with her clients.
“Human resources is a challenging role in any organization, and I love having the opportunity to make the jobs of human resources professionals a little easier,” she said.
Leadership is a hallmark of Kenya Miller’s career as a workers’ compensation and insurance defense lawyer at Dickie, McCamey & Chilcote in Lancaster.
She is a shareholder and managing attorney at the firm’s South Carolina office and co-chair of the diversity and inclusion committee.
In addition to her practice, Miller conducts seminars on workers’ compensation law and claims investigation.
Before joining Dickie McCamey, she was a partner at Miller Lawrence, a law firm focused on defending South Carolina workers’ compensation claims.
Miller is active in her community, church and profession. Among her professional activities, she is on the board of the South Carolina Association of Black Lawyers and the South Carolina Workers’ Compensation Educational Association
She has held leadership roles in the Lancaster County Chamber of Commerce and Lancaster County Habitat for Humanity and is president of the Young Women’s Auxiliary at Mount Canaan Baptist Church.
In 2022, she was named to Savoy magazine’s “Most Influential Black Lawyers.”
Professionally, nothing gives Paul Porter more pleasure than going all-in for his clients.
“I get to help people recover from their toughest career troubles, and I’m free to be creative doing it,” he said. “I can put it all on the line for my clients at trial, giving me the added bonus of competitive victories in my career, along with tough defeats that I learn from.”
Porter grew up in a blue-collar family in Greenville and decided by the third grade that he wanted to be a lawyer.
“I viewed it as a way to improve my lot in life,” he said.
Porter is a partner who works employee-side employment law and business litigation at Cromer, Babb, Porter & Hicks.
He credits attorney Lewis Cromer as his inspiration.
“Lewis’ approach to the law, his passion for helping working people, and his creativity, perseverance and integrity inspired me to become an employment lawyer,” Porter said.
Janet Rhodes’ mother inspired her to pursue a career in employment law.
In an interview for South Carolina Super Lawyers magazine, Rhodes said her mother was the only woman working in the IT division of a large company with about 20 men.
“She was always paid less and worked substantially harder,” Rhodes remembered. “At that time, I had no experience in law, there were no lawyers in the family, but I knew I wanted to make a difference for employees who are mistreated.”
Rhodes joined the Mike Kelly Law Group in 2022. She represents employees and employers.
She has represented clients in matters involving wrongful termination, discrimination, wage disputes and equal pay. She has represented clients who have employment contract disputes, including noncompete agreements.
As an undergraduate student at Wofford College, Rhodes excelled in sports, achieving NCAA Division I All-Conference honors for the javelin in her junior and senior years.
STEPHEN T. SAVITZ PARTNER, GIGNILLIAT, SAVITZ & BETTIS COLUMBIA
Helping talented people and perpetually learning more about his field are the ideals that drive Steve Savitz.
“The constant personal contact helping clients and getting to know them is most rewarding,” he said. “Every day presents new and exciting issues, many of which need immediate attention.”
Savitz is a partner at Gignilliat, Savitz and Bettis in Columbia, where he practices labor and employment law, representing employers.
His first real experience in employment law was in his role with the South Carolina Office of the Attorney General, where he represented most state agencies, their boards and directors, and the State Employment Grievance Committee.
“I recognized early that in this complex world, people need legal advice and advocacy regardless of their educational backgrounds and experiences,” he said. “Being able to help others understand the law as it applies to their lives, to prevent difficulties, and to help resolve legal issues has always appealed to me.”
SHUTT PARTNER,
Nekki Shutt grew up in a family so passionate about learning that they considered higher education a requirement, not a choice.
“Most of my relatives are in academia, but my mother chose to practice law instead,” she said.
Shutt grew up watching her mother fight for indigent individuals to get justice in the criminal court system.
“I followed my mother into the legal profession,” Shutt said. “One of my younger brothers did, too.”
Now a partner at Burnett Shutt McDaniel, Shutt is a certified specialist in labor and employment law with a focus on employee benefits under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. She has practiced for over 30 years, but it was her prior work experience that proved the springboard to her success in the law.
Shutt spent two years working in the human resources department of a publicly traded insurance company, and eventually became the company’s corporate recruiter.
“Working in human resources inspired me to make employment law my life’s work,” she said.
Chris Gantt-Sorenson wanted to be a lawyer by the time she was 15.
“I was in debate club from high school through college, and that is what drew me to law,” she said. “In college, I enjoyed moot court so much, I fell in love with trial work.”
Two years into her career, she took a $20,000 pay cut to practice with the State Grand Jury Division of the S.C. Attorney General’s Office in exchange for being first chair on the cases she handled. She enjoyed four years of intense trial work before returning to private practice in 1997, when she joined Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd where she grew an employment litigation practice.
Today, she is the firm’s employment law practice team leader and works with all types of employers.
“I spent my spare time learning employment law and began presenting where I could, which led to work that eventually turned into a full-time practice, and I love it,” she said.
One might think that for Hagood Tighe, a third-generation attorney, the law is simply in his blood.
But he admits it took him a while to find his passion for the field.
Tighe worked in politics and as a commercial real estate broker before entering law school. Today, a partner at Fisher Phillips, he serves as president of the South Carolina Bar.
Tighe thought he would practice with his father, but a clerkship with a labor and employment firm steered him in a new direction.
“Once I got into the employment law practice, I just couldn’t give it up,” he said. “My father’s firm didn’t do this kind of work, but he and I send clients back and forth, and we still get to work together.”
Tighe thrives on helping executives and human resources professionals be better employers.
“New and challenging issues come up every day, and I feel blessed to have this career,” he said.
