Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2027 
Derek M. Newberry is a partner in Hall Booth Smith’s Charleston office, with a practice encompassing the full spectrum of construction defect, professional malpractice, product defect, personal injury, wrongful death, and property damage litigation. Derek also assists professionals before state licensing boards and is a Certified Circuit Court Mediator with a quickly growing mediation practice.
Derek has received a number of professional recognition, including: (a) by Best Lawyers® as “One to Watch,” a recognition given to young lawyers for professional excellence in private practice; (b) as a Rising Star by South Carolina’s Super Lawyers magazine; (c) as AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell for his legal knowledge, communication skills, and ethical standards; and (d) and “Legal Elite” by the Charleston Business Magazine. He also previously served as the President of the Young Lawyers Division of the South Carolina Defense Trial Attorneys Association.
Before joining Hall Booth Smith in 2016, Derek practiced for seven years with a South Carolina litigation firm and was the lead full-time lawyer in its Charleston office.
Derek earned a Juris Doctor from the Charleston School of Law, where he received the CALI Award for excellence in Legal Research and Writing. He completed a Bachelor of Arts at Wofford College, where he was a scholarship member of Wofford’s football team, a two-year starter at outside linebacker, an Academic All-American Nominee, and a four-time Academic All Southern Conference performer.
