Attorneys
Betsy is a founding member of Robinson Gray Stepp & Laffitte, LLC in Columbia, South Carolina. An accomplished litigator, she concentrates her practice on commercial litigation, probate and estate litigation, and professional liability and ethics.
Betsy’s professional liability work includes years of experience representing lawyers, law firms, and legal professionals in litigated matters, disciplinary actions, and pre-suit and ethics counseling. She is a Fellow in the preeminent American College of Trial Lawyers, a permanent member of the Fourth Circuit Judicial Conference, and member of the Chief Justice’s Commission on the Profession, among others.
[read more]
Betsy served as the second woman president of the South Carolina Bar, and her accomplishments have been recognized with the Fellows Award, given by the National Conference of Bar Presidents. In addition, she has received the DuRant Distinguished Public Service Award by the South Carolina Bar Foundation, a prestigious statewide honor recognizing meritorious service to the law and community. Betsy is a recipient of both the South Carolina Women Lawyers Association Jean Galloway Bissell Award and the USC Law School Alumni Association’s Compleat Lawyer Award, Gold Medallion.
She has been consistently recognized by Best Lawyers in America and by Chambers USA as a “Leading Lawyer for Business,” and has been repeatedly named to the South Carolina Super Lawyers Top Ten List. Betsy enjoys giving back to her community and has volunteered much of her time mentoring young lawyers. She is a past chair of the Board of Trustees for Still Hopes Episcopal Retirement Community and a former board member of the University of South Carolina’s Educational Foundation.
- Represented lawyers and law firms in multiple legal malpractice suits arising from real estate, probate, business, litigation and corporate matters.
- Represented lawyers and law firms in a variety of disciplinary matters before the Supreme Court Office of Disciplinary Counsel and the South Carolina Supreme Court.
- Counseled law firms in ethics, conflicts of interest, and other professional responsibility matters.
- Represented the S.C. House and Senate in a matter challenging the constitutionality of legislation.
- Represented individuals and trusts in estate and probate matters, including will contests, trust litigation, and other real estate litigation impacting estate property, such as partition litigation.
- Represented individuals and entities in disputes or active litigation arising out of closely held corporations, limited liability companies and partnerships.
- Represented individuals and corporations in federal white-collar criminal prosecutions involving alleged antitrust and environmental violations.
- South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Power List: Business Defense (2023)
- South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Hall of Fame (2018)
- DuRant Distinguished Public Service Award, South Carolina Bar Foundation (2017)
- America’s Top 100 Attorneys, South Carolina
- Columbia Business Monthly Legal Elite of the Midlands (2016-2023)
- National Conference of Bar Presidents Fellows Award (2016)
- Best Lawyers in America
- Commercial Litigation (2005-2024)
- Bet-the-Company Litigation (2009-2024)
- Lawyer of the Year (2009, 2016)
- Women in the Law, Top Peer-Nominated Lawyers (2016)
- Chambers U.S.A. America’s Leading Lawyers for Business (2007-2022)
- South Carolina “Super Lawyer”
- Business Litigation (2008-2023), Top 25 List (2008-2010, 2012-2023), Top 10 List (2008-2009, 2013-2023)
- Palmetto Center for Women TWIN Award (2015)
- Benchmark Litigation Local Litigation Star (2009-2014, 2016)
- Litigation Special Report Top Rated Lawyer in Commercial Litigation (2012)
- South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Leadership in Law Award (2010)
- South Carolina Women Lawyers Association Jean Galloway Bissell Award (2000)
- USC Law School Alumni Association Compleat Lawyer Award Gold Medallion (1997)
- Panelist, “One Issue, Two Perspectives: Legal Malpractice in South Carolina,” Current Issues in Legal Malpractice, South Carolina Bar CLE, Columbia, South Carolina (December 2017)
- Co-Author, The Law of Legal Malpractice in South Carolina, South Carolina Bar, CLE Division (2017)
- “Who Can Stay and Who Must Go: The Tension Between Witness Sequestration and the Right of Crime Victims to Be Present,” 21 S.C. Law. 38 (March 2010)
Professional
- American Bar Association
- Richland County Bar Association
- South Carolina Bar
- Former President (2000-2001)
- House of Delegates
- Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers
- Fellow, American Bar Foundation
- Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America
- Fourth Circuit Judicial Conference
- Chief Justice’s Commission on the Profession
- Chief Justice’s Commission on Lawyer Advertising
- Former Member
- United States Magistrate Merit Selection Panel
- Former Chair (2009)
- Supreme Court of South Carolina
- Former Appointed Attorney to Assist the Disciplinary Counsel
- Statewide and Regional Citizens Advisory Committee of the Judicial Merit Selection Commission
- Former Chair
- South Carolina Women Lawyers Association
- John Belton O’Neall American Inn of Court
Community
- Robinson Gray 20 Years Strong Service Project
- Still Hopes Episcopal Retirement Community
- Board of Trustees, Chair (2017-2019)
- University of South Carolina Educational Foundation
- Board of Directors (2004-2010)
Bar Admissions
- South Carolina Bar
Court Admissions
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina
- U.S. Supreme Court
Education
- University of South Carolina School of Law, J.D., cum laude (1976)
- Order of Wig and Robe
- South Carolina Law Review, Comments Editor
- University of South Carolina, B.A. (1970)
