HAYNSWORTH SINKLER BOYD names NEW SHAREHOLDERS

Contact:
Maxie Haltiwanger
Director of Communications & Marketing
Direct Dial: 803.540.7874
E-Mail: mhaltiwanger@hsblawfirm.com

For Immediate Release
January 4, 2011

 

HAYNSWORTH SINKLER BOYD names NEW SHAREHOLDERS

Two Charleston, two Greenville lawyers elected

Editor’s Note: Photos (4) attached

<<GraysonClay.jpg>> <<HumphreysDavid.jpg>> <<AtkinsonCourtney.jpg>> <<MajorChris.jpg>>

CHARLESTON, COLUMBIA, FLORENCE, GREENVILLE, MYRTLE BEACH, SC, & WASHINGTON, DC — Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, P.A., is pleased to announce that Clay M. Grayson, David C. Humphreys III, Courtney C. Atkinson, and Christopher B. Major have been named shareholders, effective January 1.

CHARLESTON OFFICE: 134 Meeting Street, Third Floor, Charleston, SC 29401

Clay M. Grayson, a business lawyer, joined Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd’s Charleston office in 2004.  He assists clients at every stage of their business development — from the formation of the enterprise to the implementation of creative, tax-efficient strategies for expansion, protection of intellectual property rights, compensation and benefit packages, ownership succession, reorganizations, and mergers and acquisitions.

The Charleston native has developed a national practice dedicated to tax-exempt organizations, with a particular focus on nonprofit foundations that support universities and hospitals.  Grayson currently serves as general counsel of Health Sciences South Carolina, where he consults on a variety of projects. He has been published in South Carolina Lawyer, Practical Tax Strategies, and the SC Chamber of Commerce’s South Carolina Business.

Grayson received his LL.M from New York University in 2004, and his Juris Doctor and Masters of International Business Studies (MIBS, International MBA) degrees from the University of South Carolina. In 1999, he received his Certificate, Italian/European Business, S.D.A., at Bocconi, in Milan, Italy. Grayson graduated with honors from the College of Charleston in 1995.

Active in statewide and community activities, Grayson is a board member of the South Carolina Association of Nonprofit Organization (SCANPO), Charleston Symphony Orchestra, and Jazz Artists of Charleston. A member of the Hollings Cancer Center Advisory Citizens Council, he is a graduate of Leadership Charleston, Class of 2008.

David C Humphreys III, a land use, real estate development and project finance lawyer, joined the Firm’s Charleston office in 2003.  He assists lenders, developers, and municipalities in all aspects of real estate development, zoning, lending, and foreclosure.  As the past chair of the City of Charleston’s Board of Zoning Appeals–Site Design, and in his role as counsel to planning departments of multiple area municipalities, Humphreys has extensive first-hand experience in achieving a balance between preservation of natural and historic resources and the development of well-planned projects that promote economic growth in Charleston County and throughout the State of South Carolina.

In addition to representing clients in zoning matters and purchase and sale transactions, Humphreys advises landlords and tenants with respect to office, retail and industrial leasing matters.  Humphreys also assists clients in the formation of corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships and joint ventures.

A graduate of Leadership Charleston, Class of 2009, Humphreys currently serves on the March of Dimes Lowcountry Board of Directors and is a past member of the Board of Directors of the Charleston County First Steps program.  He received his J.D., cum laude, in 2003, and his B.A. in history in 1999, both from the University of South Carolina.

GREENVILLE OFFICE: 75 Beattie Place, 11^th Floor, Greenville, South Carolina 29601

Courtney C. Atkinson focuses on employment law and commercial defense litigation. She joined Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd’s Greenville office in 2003. She provides advice and counsel to employers on various issues, including employment policies and handbooks, non-compete/confidentiality agreements, prevention of claims of discrimination and harassment, and other human resource matters.  She also defends employers in actions in all courts, and before various federal and state agencies, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, South Carolina Human Affairs Commission (SCHAC), South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce, and both federal and state Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA and SC OSHA).  She also has experience in healthcare liability matters, products liability defense, general business litigation, and intellectual property litigation.

A Greenville native, Atkinson was named one of the “Best and Brightest 35 and Under” by Greenville Magazine (2006).  She is active in the Upstate’s legal community as well as the civic arena. She serves as treasurer of the Greenville County Bar Association, whose executive committee she has served on since 2004.  Atkinson was recently re-appointed by Greenville City Council to serve on the City’s Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee.

Atkinson, a graduate of Leadership Greenville 35 serves on the board of directors of YouthBASE, a non-profit group working with at-risk children, and on the board of directors of the Junior League of Greenville, where she serves as Community Vice President.  She also volunteers for the United Way of Greenville County, where she serves as a member of the Women’s Leadership Council.

She received her J.D., in 2003 from Washington and Lee University, and graduated cum laude from the University of Georgia in 2000, with a B.A. degree in political science.

Christopher B. (Chris) Major, joined the Firm’s Greenville office in 2006. Major represents clients in state and federal courts throughout the Carolinas.

He is admitted to practice in both North Carolina and South Carolina as well as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.  The Greenville native regularly represents clients in the transportation and construction industries. In a landmark case, Major obtained summary judgment on behalf of a German auto manufacturer arising from the development of a state-of-the-art automotive research campus.

Prior to joining the Firm, Major served as a law clerk to The Honorable G. Ross Anderson, Jr., U.S. District Judge for the District of South Carolina, and practiced law in Charlotte, North Carolina. A 2003 magna cum laude graduate of the University of South Carolina School of Law, Major was a staff member of the South Carolina Law Review during law school.  He graduated magna cum laude from the University of South Carolina Honors College in 2000, with a B.A., in history.

Major devotes his volunteer efforts to legal organizations: he previously served on the South Carolina Bar’s Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee and the HELP Task Force, which is charged with educating lawyers and judges about substance abuse and mental health issues in the legal profession and is a past chair of the Bar’s Law Student Liaison Committee.  With The Defense Research Institute, Inc., the international membership organization of all lawyers involved in the defense of civil litigation, Major is a vice-liaison for the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Committee.

About Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, P.A.
Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, P.A. provides business, litigation and financial legal services, and governmental relations to national and international clients. With a history dating back to 1887, it is one of the largest law firms in the Carolinas with more than 130 attorneys.  The Firm has offices in Charleston, Columbia, Florence, Greenville, and Myrtle Beach, SC, and Washington, DC.

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