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COLUMBIA, S.C. – A total of 23 attorneys with Robinson Gray are being recognized for the quality of their practice in Columbia in the 2023 edition of The Best Lawyers in America®.

Four of them have also been named Lawyers of the Year. Best Lawyers gives this award to individuals with the highest overall peer-feedback for a specific practice area and geographic region. Only one lawyer is recognized as the “Lawyer of the Year” for each practice area and location.

Here is the full Best Lawyers list for Robinson Gray for 2023, with the practice areas in which they were named:

• Grady Beard – Workers’ Compensation Law-Employers
• Kevin Bell – Commercial Litigation; Insurance Law
• Frank Ellerbe – Administrative/Regulatory Law; Energy Law; Energy Regulatory Law; Litigation-Environmental; Litigation-Regulatory Enforcement (SEC, Telecom, Energy); Utilities Law
• Kevin Garrison – Real Estate Law
• Benjamin Gooding – Commercial Litigation
• Betsy Gray – Bet-the-Company Litigation; Commercial Litigation
• Nick Haigler – Workers’ Compensation Law-Employers
• Paul Hoefer – Commercial Litigation; Litigation-Real Estate; Real Estate Law
• Becky Laffitte – Insurance Law; Litigation-Construction; Personal Injury Litigation-Defendants; Product Liability Litigation-Defendants; Transportation Law
• Gibbs Leaphart – Workers’ Compensation Law-Employers
• Bill Metzger – Banking and Finance Law; Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law; Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships)
• Michael Montgomery – Litigation-Insurance; Personal Injury Litigation-Defendants
• Kelly Morrow – Workers’ Compensation Law-Employers
• Shannon Till Poteat – Workers’ Compensation Law-Employers
• Beth Richardson – Commercial Litigation; Litigation-Securities
• Kerk Spong – Real Estate Law
• Bobby Stepp – Bet-the-Company Litigation; Commercial Litigation
• Monty Todd – Personal Injury Litigation-Defendants
• Rob Tyson – Administrative/Regulatory Law; Commercial Litigation; Litigation-Trusts and Estates
• Cal Watson – Bet-the-Company Litigation; Commercial Litigation; Professional Malpractice Law-Defendants

Four of those – Frank Ellerbe, Kevin Bell, Bill Metzger and Rob Tyson – were further honored as Lawyers of the Year.

Three attorneys were placed on the “Ones to Watch” list. They are:

• Chris Boguski – Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law; Commercial Litigation
• La’Jessica Stringfellow – Commercial Litigation; Medical Malpractice Law-Defendants; Personal Injury Litigation-Defendants
• Lisle Traywick – Appellate Practice; Commercial Litigation; Insurance Law; Product Liability Litigation-Defendants

The “Ones to Watch” list recognizes attorneys who have shown outstanding excellence in private practice early in their careers. Typically, “Ones to Watch” attorneys have been in practice for 5-9 years.

“This is wonderful to receive such respect from our local professional peers,” said Cal Watson, who is the law firm’s managing member. “We’re all deeply proud of our colleagues, from Becky Laffitte, who is marking her 20th year on the list, to Lisle Traywick, who made the ‘Ones to Watch’ list for the first time.”

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

Recognition by Best Lawyers 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.