J.S.D. (1986) and LL.M. (1979), Columbia University

J.D. (1973) and B.S. (1977), Louisiana State University

Professor Adams, a recognized expert on lawyer’s ethics, has been a member of the Law School faculty since 1978, and his teaching and research interests include Professional Responsibility, Advanced Legal Profession, and Judicial Ethics. He is also the founding director of the Program on Judicial Ethics, Selection, Accountability, and Independence. Dr. Adams is lead coauthor of the South Carolina Corporate Practice Manual, and was one of the reporters for the South Carolina Business Corporation Act and the Reporter for the South Carolina adoption of Article 2A, Uniform Commercial Code. He serves as the Ethics Consultant for the South Carolina Association for Justice and has been a member of the South Carolina Bar Professional Responsibility Committee for many years. He writes a column, The Ethical Lawyer, for the Bulletin of the South Carolina Association for Justice and is a frequent speaker at Continuing Legal Education and Continuing Judicial Education Seminars for the South Carolina Bar, the USC Law School, and other organizations.

Desa Ballard began her practice in 1997. She is the senior attorney at Ballard Watson Weissenstein, located in West Columbia, South Carolina. Her firm focuses its practices on ethics, professional responsibility, appellate court litigation, and civil litigation. She has a Bachelor's degree from the University of South Carolina, magna cum laude, in Journalism for which she was awarded a Phi Beta Kappa membership, and a J.D. degree. She is licensed to practice law in South Carolina and the District of Columbia. She is a certified mediator for circuit and probate court proceedings. She clerked for the Honorable Ralph King Anderson Jr., while he was a circuit judge; served as a staff attorney at the South Carolina Supreme Court for two years and as a law clerk to Chief Justice J.B. "Bubba" Ness during his tenure at the Supreme Court of South Carolina. She practiced for ten (10) years with Ness Motley, Loadholt, Richardson & Poole, P.A. before opening her own practice. She was the Chairman of the Ethics and Professionalism Committee of the South Carolina Trial Lawyers Association (SCTLA), its Editor, as well as a former Board member. She also served as Chairman of the Amicus Committee and the Committee on Continuing Legal Education (CLE). She was Chairman of the Professional Responsibility Committee and is currently serving on the Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee (UPL). In addition, she is an adjunct professor of law at the University of South Carolina School Of Law when funding permits. She is a member of the American Bar Association Center of Professional Responsibility and the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers (APRL), a national organization of practitioners whose emphasis is defending attorneys in grievance matters. She is also a founding member of the South Carolina Association of Ethics Counsel (SCAEC), an organization of practitioners seeking to assist and improve the administration of the attorney discipline system in South Carolina. She currently lives in Chapin, South Carolina with her husband and two dogs.
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Steven J. Best is an attorney and founding partner of the Affinity Consulting Group.  Affinity specializes in technology and management solutions for law firms and legal departments.  After practicing law for 11 years, Steve launched a new career in law practice management and legal technology.  He is now nationally known as an expert in legal technology including case management, time/billing/accounting, document assembly, document management, paperless office strategies and cloud based solutions.  Steve currently serves on the ABA Tech Show planning board and co-chairs the annual legal technology "show and tell" program for Georgia ICLE.  Steve is a frequent speaker and lecturer throughout the U.S. and Canada at various legal technology CLE programs

Steedley Bogan is a solo practitioner maintaining an office in Columbia, SC. His past service to the Bar includes two years as a member of the Executive Committee for the South Carolina Supreme Court Board of Commissioners for Grievances and Discipline. Steedley is a long- standing member of the South Carolina Bar’s Professional Responsibility Committee having twice served as Committee Chairman. He served as the South Carolina Bar’s first Director of the Law Office Management Assistance Program (LOMAP) and conducted Risk Management Reviews for the Attorney’s Liability Protection Society (ALPS) He is currently serving as the Chief Administrative Judge for the City of Columbia. He is a member of the South Carolina Bar, the South Carolina Trial Lawyers, the American Bar Association and the Richland County Bar where he serves as the Chairman of the Annual Ethics Seminar. Steedley frequently represents lawyers on professional responsibility matters and grievances.

William O. Higgins is a shareholder in the Columbia law firm of Ellis, Lawhorne & Sims, PA, practicing in the areas of Tax, Real Estate, Estate and Business Planning, and Finance. Bill received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Presbyterian College in 1982, a Juris Doctor degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1984, and a Master of Laws (LLM) degree in Taxation from New York University School of Law in 1998. While in law school, Bill received the distinguished Order of the Wig and Robe, in addition to serving on the Law Review from 1983-1985. He has taken an active role in the South Carolina Bar, having served as Chairman of the Professional Responsibility Committee, Chairman of the General Practice Section, and a member of the Task Force on Multi-disciplinary Practice. Bill is a frequent lecturer on Section 1031 tax-deferred exchanges of real estate as well as other real estate, tax, and business matters.

Practice Areas

Professional Liability and Ethics

Probate and Estate Litigation

Commercial Litigation and Business Dispute Resolution

Appellate Practice Group

Admissions

South Carolina Bar

U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

Education

Clemson University, B.S. in Accounting, 1996

University of South Carolina School of Law, J.D., 2000

- Environmental Law Journal

Summer Legal Study in Capetown, South Africa through University of Florida

Levin College of Law, 1999

Associations

American Bar Association

Richland County Bar Association

South Carolina Women Lawyers Association

South Carolina Defense Trial Attorneys' Association

Shareholder - Attorneys Lee, Eadon, Isgett, Popwell & Reardon, P.A.

Practice Areas

•    Torts

•    Personal Injury

•    Products Liability    •    Workers' Compensation

•    Social Security Disability

University     Appalachian State University, B.A., 1979

Law School    University of South Carolina, J.D., 1982

Admitted    1982, South Carolina and U.S. District Court, District of South Carolina

Memberships     Richland County Bar Association; South Carolina Bar (Former Member, House of Delegates); South Carolina Supreme Court Commission on Lawyer Conduct (Chairman); American Association for Justice (f/k/a the Association of Trial Lawyers of America; South Carolina Association for Justice (f/k/a the South Carolina Trial Lawyers Association) - (Past Chairman, Torts and Negligence Section); Legal Elite of Midlands; and Listed in Best Lawyers in America.

Born    Cheraw, South Carolina, December 25, 1956

Law Clerk to the Honorable E.C. Burnett, III, Circuit Court Judge, 7th Judicial Circuit of South Carolina, 1982-1983; Attorneys Lee, Eadon, Isgett, Popwell & Reardon, 1983-Present; Adjunct Professor - USC School of Law, 2013. AV Rating    Peer Rating - 5.0/5.0

Thomas A. Pendarvis of Pendarvis Law Offices, P.C. graduated from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1992 after receiving a degree in Business Administration from the University of Georgia in 1984. The focus of his civil trial practice since 1992 is suing negligent attorneys, accountants, real estate appraisers, and other professionals. Thomas also has experience handling business disputes, law firm dissolutions, wrongful death claims, personal injury claims, and other complex litigation matters.

Sabrina Todd serves as Assistant Disciplinary Counsel.  An Horry County native, Sabrina graduated from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1998.  She began her legal career as a Staff Attorney at the South Carolina Court of Appeals.  She has also served as a Law Clerk to the Honorable H. Samuel Stilwell, an Adjunct Instructor of Legal Writing at the University of South Carolina School of Law, and as an Assistant Attorney General.  Sabrina has spoken at numerous seminars regarding legal ethics and is a regular presenter at the South Carolina Supreme Court Institute.

J.D. (2000) University of South Carolina

B.A. (1991) University of South Carolina

Michael Virzi teaches first-year Legal Research, Analysis and Writing I & II and upper-level courses in Advanced Legal Writing and Fundamentals of Law Practice and Professionalism. Prior to becoming a full-time faculty member, Mr. Virzi taught as an adjunct professor at the School of Law and taught Business Law I and II as an adjunct professor in the Paralegal Studies program at Midlands Technical College. He came to the School of Law from the South Carolina Supreme Court's Office of Disciplinary Counsel where he investigated and prosecuted attorneys for ethical misconduct. Prior to working for the Disciplinary Counsel, Mr. Virzi practiced in the areas of commercial and business litigation and creditors' rights.

Mr. Virzi received his B.A. in Political Science from the University of South Carolina in 1991 and graduated cum laude from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 2000. He is a member of the South Carolina Bar, the North Carolina Bar (inactive), the U.S. District Courts of North and South Carolina, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Mr. Virzi has served on the South Carolina Bar's Ethics Advisory Committee since 2003, including as Chair from 2007-2010, and has served on the Professional Responsibility Committee since 2011. He is a frequent CLE speaker and law school guest lecturer on the topics of legal ethics and the disciplinary process.

Harvey M. Watson III is a graduate of The Citadel and Emory University School of Law. He has worked in private practice since his admission to the SC Bar in 2005. He began at a small firm handling personal injury litigation and real estate closings before joining the Law Offices of Desa Ballard in 2008. Now a partner in the firm of Ballard Watson Weissenstein, he handles appellate litigation but devotes the majority of his practice time to representation in professional ethics and practice management issues. That focus translates into representing many attorneys involved with pending matters before the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, but also many attorneys hoping to prevent such matters from arising (or recurring as the case may be) through consultation regarding firm management and other legal ethics issues. He is a member of the SC Association of Ethics Counsel and serves on the SC Bar Professional Responsibility Committee.

A Sumter native and daughter of avid Gamecock Club members, Stephanie graduated from the University of South Carolina cum laud in 2001 with a B.A. in Journalism. While in college, she worked at Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough as a project assistant on a mass tort team. In 2004, she graduated from the University of South Carolina School of Law, where she served as Business Editor for the Journal of International Law and

Business and contributor to The Forum. She worked with Carol Sanders, PA in Columbia, practicing domestic litigation, until she joined Desa Ballard's firm in 2006. Stephanie has served on the South Carolina Bar's Ethics Advisory Committee for several years and regularly prepares materials for S.C. Bar ethics CLE programs.