Todd W. Smyth

A veteran of the courtroom, Jodi Westbrook Flowers seeks to protect the health, safety and rights of consumers, families, investors, workers, and victims of crime and terrorism. Jodi has litigated a wide range of cases involving tobacco, asbestos, lead pigment, aviation disasters, consumer fraud, cybersecurity and product defects, as well as terrorist financing and human rights violations. Jodi also represents public entities seeking to hold opioid manufacturers and distributors accountable f...

Motley Rice co-founder Joe Rice is recognized as a skillful and innovative negotiator of complex litigation settlements, having served as the lead negotiator in some of the largest civil actions our courts have seen in the last 35 years. In 2023, his law school alma mater renamed the school the USC Joseph F. Rice School of Law. Corporate Legal Times reported that defense counsel and legal scholars described Joe as one of the nation's “five most feared and respected plaintiffs’ law...

Melissa is a member of Butler Snow’s Labor and Employment group, with experience in a wide range of industries. Melissa regularly counsels clients on compliance issues and represents employers before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the South Carolina Human Affairs Commission, and in both state and federal court against lawsuits arising under Title VII, ADA, ADEA, FMLA, and the FLSA.

David G. Jennings is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Municipal Law. David G., who practices law in Charleston, South Carolina, has been recognized since 2026. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which David G. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Elizabeth Middleton Burke uses the law and science to help people injured by pharmaceutical drugs, medical devices and other medical errors. Burke proudly advocates on behalf of consumers who rely on the pharmaceutical industry for safe and effective treatments. As a member of RPWB’s pharmaceutical and medical device team, she enjoys the challenge of investigating, organizing and litigating science-based cases for the benefit of clients who were not warned about the serious side effects...

Following in the footsteps of his father, firm founder Reese Joye, Mark Joye is now head of the litigation department and represents those who have been injured by defective products, in car crashes, and in tractor-trailer collisions. In 1997, Mark represented the parents of Sergio Jimenez, who was ejected from the back of a Chrysler minivan in an accident and killed. The case resulted in a $262.5 million verdict for the family and is one of the largest personal injury verdicts in South Carol...

Brian is a member of Butler Snow’s Finance, Real Estate and Restructuring group. He represents institutional investors, private equity funds, regional and national developers, and institutional landlords in all stages of real estate development and investment, including horizontal infrastructure, vertical construction, acquisition, disposition, joint ventures, financing, restructuring and leasing (including ground leases and build-to-suit leases) of trophy office buildings, build-to-ren...

A veteran litigator with strong roots in complex litigation, Fred Baker has worked on a broad range of environmental, medical costs recovery, consumer and products liability cases and holds numerous leadership roles within the firm. Fred represents individuals, institutional investors, and governmental entities in a wide variety of cases. He leads the firm’s tobacco litigation, and was a member of the legal team that litigated the groundbreaking tobacco litigation on behalf of several S...

John is AV-rated, the highest rating offered by Martindale-Hubbell®. He has tried cases to verdict in both state and federal court. He represents plaintiffs and defendants in a variety of litigation matters, as well as landowners in condemnation cases. His practice encompasses a broad range of areas including federal practice, business and commercial litigation, eminent domain/condemnation, personal injury, zoning appeals, intellectual property litigation and employment litigation. John w...

A trial lawyer, James Ledlie has spent the past 20 years advocating for clients throughout the country while furthering complex litigation related to public health, worker safety and other issues. His practice spans litigation areas including asbestos, tobacco, defective consumer products, pharmaceuticals and faulty medical devices. He is also a member of Motley Rice’s litigation team representing dozens of states, cities, towns, counties and townships targeting the alleged misrepresent...