Beth Burke Richardson, Appellate Attorney in Columbia, South Carolina

Beth is tenacious and a rigorous thinker. Her practice focuses on business disputes of all kinds, in courtroom and arbitration settings, including FINRA. Beth’s clients include publicly traded and private companies and their officers and employees operating in a wide array of industries such as real estate development, insurance, energy and utility, restaurant and retail, financial investing, and health care. Beth’s litigation experience also includes trust and estate work, and appellate advocacy, particularly in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. She has handled successful appeals of cases involving issues of first impression and divided authorities. Beth also regularly assists other lawyers in ethics matters. In addition, she is the Diversity & Inclusion Team Leader at Robinson Gray.

Before joining the firm in 2013, Beth served as an adjunct professor in Advanced Legal Writing at the University of South Carolina School of Law and was an associate for five years at a BigLaw firm. Beth completed judicial clerkships in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina. She received her law degree from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, where she served as editor-in-chief of the Law Review and was the National Association of Women Lawyers Outstanding Law Graduate. Her undergraduate degree is from Duke University.

Admissions

• South Carolina Bar
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
• U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina

Education

• Washington University Law School in St. Louis, J.D. (2001)
• Editor-in-chief, Washington University Law Quarterly (May 2000-2001)
• Law Merit Scholarship (1999-2001)
• Honors Scholar Award (1999-2000)
• Duke University, B.A. in Women’s Studies (1997)
• President, Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity

Judicial Clerkships

• The Honorable Henry Michael Herlong, Jr., U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina (June-August 2005)
• The Honorable William B. Traxler, Jr., U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (2004-2005)
• The Honorable Cameron McGowan Currie, U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina (2001-2003)

Professional Memberships

• American Bar Association - Former Chair, Young Lawyers Division Women in the Profession Committee (2004-2005)
• South Carolina Bar
• Richland County Bar Association
• Federal Bar Association - President, South Carolina Chapter
• Historic Columbia - Historic Real Estate Committee (November 2017-Present)
• Judicial Conference of the Fourth Circuit
• Riley Institute, Diversity Leaders Initiative - Midlands Spring 2019 Class
• South Carolina Defense Trial Attorneys’ Association
• South Carolina Women Lawyers Association
• U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina - District Court Advisory Committee

Honors & Awards

• South Carolina “Super Lawyer” - Business Litigation (2017-2019)
• Best Lawyers in America - Commercial Litigation (2020)
• South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Leadership in Law Honoree (2017)
• National Association of Women Lawyers Outstanding Law Graduate (2001)

Publications & Presentations

• Presenter, “FCA Defenses: Public Disclosure Bar,” South Carolina Bar CLE (May 2017)
• Presenter with Deborah Barbier, “Individual Liability Under the False Claims Act,” South Carolina Medical Association Health Law Symposium (February 2017)
• Presenter with Deborah Barbier, “Parallel Proceedings – False Claims Act,” South Carolina Bar Convention, Greenville, South Carolina (January 2017)
• Presenter with Deborah Barbier, “Parallel Proceedings in False Claims Act Cases,” False Claims Act/Qui Tam Whistleblower Litigation Involving Health Care Providers, South Carolina Bar CLE (May 2016)
• “The Road to Richmond: A First Timer’s Trip to the U.S. Court of Appeals Fourth Circuit,“ South Carolina Bar CLE (2016)
• “The Road to Richmond: Tips for a First-Timer’s Trip to the Fourth Circuit,” South Carolina Lawyer magazine (January 2016)
• South Carolina is Huge Beneficiary of South Carolina Presidential Primaries, ELECT Blog (2016)
• Sowell Gray’s Appellate Advocacy Group Devotes Significant Time to Pro Bono Appellate Matters, The Advocate’s Journal (2015)
• Significant Sovereign Immunity Questions Now Answered, The Advocate’s Journal (2014)
• A Conversation with Judith Lichtman a/k/a “The 101st Senator”, published in The Briefcase, South Carolina Women Lawyers Association, Summer 2005 and in the Women in the Profession Newsletter for the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division (Spring 2005)
• Secret Settlements: Power point discussion regarding confidentiality provisions in settlement agreements, presented firm wide to Nelson, Mullins, Riley and Scarbrough, LLC (April 2004)
• To Preclude or Not to Preclude: Section 1983 Claims Surviving Title IX’s Onslaught, 78 WASH. U.L.Q. 148 (2000).
• First Author and Editor, Preventing Neural Tube Defects: A Prevention Model and Resource Guide(1998)

Community Involvement

• 20 Years Strong Service Project: From Schoolhouse to Courthouse (2016, 2017)
• Central Carolina Community Foundation - Board of Trustees (2016-Present); Vice Chair, Education Committee
• East Point Academy - Vice Chair, Board of Directors (2013-2016)
• Homeroom Parent (2013-2014)
• Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce
• Junior League of Columbia (2004-Present)
• Montessori School of Columbia 30th Anniversary Celebration and Auction - Former Chair (2014)
• New Morning Foundation - Chair, Board of Directors (2009-Present)
• One Columbia for Arts and History Volunteer (2011-2012, 2013-2014)
• South Carolina Attorney General’s Office Criminal Domestic Violence Prosecution Program (2007-2008)
• South Carolina Chamber of Commerce
• Teen Pregnancy Prevention Legislative Ad Hoc Oversight (2008)
• University Hill Neighborhood Association - Secretary (2014-2016)
• USMC Mud Run (April 2012)
• Women’s Right and Empowerment Network (WREN) - Board of Directors (2016-Present)