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COLUMBIA, S.C. – While 31 attorneys at Robinson Gray were recognized in the 2024 edition of The Best Lawyers in America®, three of them were singled out for the publication’s highest honor: Lawyer of the Year.

With the practice areas in which they were cited as the best in the Columbia area, they were:

• Beth Burke Richardson, in the area of Litigation – Securities.
• Kelly Morrow, in Workers’ Compensation Law – Employers.
• Cal Watson, in Professional Malpractice Law – Defendants.

Best Lawyers awards the Lawyer of the Year designation to individuals with the highest overall peer-feedback for a specific practice area and geographic region. Only one lawyer is named “Lawyer of the Year” in each practice area and location.

Beth was also honored on the overall Best Lawyers list for her work in Appellate Practice and Commercial Litigation, and Cal Watson was recognized in the additional areas of Bet-the-Company Litigation and Commercial Litigation.

The other 22 Robinson Gray attorneys on that list were Grady Beard, Kevin Bell, Frank Ellerbe, Kevin Garrison, Ben Gooding, Betsy Gray, Nick Haigler, Matt Hill, Paul Hoefer, Rachel Hutchens, Becky Laffitte, Gibbs Leaphart, Amanda Mellard, Bill Metzger, Michael Montgomery, Shannon Till Poteat, Jasmine Smith, Kerk Spong, Bobby Stepp, Tim Thompson, Monty Todd, and Rob Tyson.

In addition, the following six were named to the publication’s Ones to Watch list, which recognizes attorneys in their first decade of practice: Chris Boguski, Molly Campolong, Ashley Dixon, Meredith Ann Krzyston, La’Jessica Stringfellow, and Lisle Traywick.

Beth Richardson has been practicing for more than 20 years. She focuses on business disputes, in courtroom and arbitration settings, including FINRA. Her clients include publicly traded and private companies and their officers and employees operating in a wide range of industries, including real estate, insurance, energy and utility, restaurant and retail, financial investing, and health care. She has now been cited by Best Lawyers for each of the past five years.

Kelly Morrow concentrates on workers’ compensation and workers’ compensation mediation. She has tried hundreds of cases before the SC Workers’ Compensation Commission, representing carriers and employers, and is a certified Circuit Court Mediator. She regularly presents on trends in workers’ compensation to both clients and on behalf of professional organizations. Best Lawyers also honored her workers’ compensation practice in 2022.

Cal Watson is a litigator with experience in complex business and insurance disputes, class actions, and professional liability and ethics. During his 30 years of practice, Cal has represented individuals, local and national businesses, partnerships, insurance companies, and financial institutions. Cal has been recognized by Best Lawyers since 2008.

Best Lawyers in America, which thousands of lawyers and corporations use annually, is regarded as a definitive guide to the legal profession nationally.

The recognition is based entirely on peer review. The methodology is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area. For more information, go to https://www.bestlawyers.com/methodology.

About Robinson Gray Stepp & Laffitte, LLC

Located in the BullStreet district, Robinson Gray Stepp & Laffitte, LLC, is a South Carolina law firm that offers a tailored, hands-on approach. It provides business transactional and litigation representation in all state and federal trial and appellate courts in South Carolina. The firm’s 37 attorneys serve clients ranging from multi-national corporations to small businesses and individuals. For more, visit https://robinsongray.com/.