Bill Hopkins was born and raised in Bishopville, South Carolina. He attended North Carolina State University where he received his B.S. degree in Textile Chemistry in 1988. After graduation, Bill worked for nearly three years for Springs Industries, Inc., a large textile company, at a dyeing and finishing plant in Lancaster, South Carolina. Bill was working as a third shift superintendent at the time he was accepted into law school at the University of South Carolina. During law school, Bill served as the Research Editor for the South Carolina Environmental Law Journal. It was also during law school that he began clerking for the law firm of Whaley, McCutchen, Blanton & Rhodes, LLP, one of the oldest and most prestigious litigation firms in South Carolina, which had originally been founded in 1936. Bill continued to work at the firm after graduation and ultimately became a partner in the firm and then was elected Managing Partner in 2005. Bill and the firm were selected by South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster to represent the State of South Carolina in lawsuits brought against several pharmaceutical companies regarding their reporting of false and inflated prices for drugs which resulted in overpayments by the State Medicaid and State Health Plan programs, known as the AWP litigation. Bill remained as the Managing Partner until December 31, 2007 when the firm dissolved after 71 years of continuous practice. Bill founded and started a new law firm called McCutchen Blanton Hopkins & Campbell, LLP, where he continued to practice with Thomas McCutchen and Hoover Blanton, two of the most well known leaders and stewards of the South Carolina Bar. Bill ran this law firm until November 1, 2010, when he joined the national law firm Beasley Allen Crow Methvin Portis & Miles, P.C. in Mongomery, Alabama in the Consumer Fraud section with an emphasis and focus on class action litigation. Bill has been active in various bar associations and organizations, including the South Carolina Bar. At the time he joined Beasley Allen, Bill was serving on the Professional Responsibility Committee and the Conventions Committee of the South Carolina Bar. Bill is currently serving as the Co-Chairman of the Class Action Litigation Group of the American Association for Justice. Bill served as the Chairman of the Employment Rights Section of the South Carolina Association for Justice for three years. In 2010 Bill Hopkins was elected to the South Carolina Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), which is a distinct recognition and privilege. ABOTA is a national organization of both plaintiff and defense trial attorneys which is committed to the preservation of trial by jury. To be eligible for consideration, an attorney must have tried at least 20 civil jury trials to jury verdict as lead counsel. Bill has tried over 70 civil cases to jury verdict as sole or lead counsel, in areas such as personal injury, business torts, fraud, products liability, trade secrets, unfair trade practices, insurance matters and employment. Bill has also had an active appellate practice and has argued 8 cases before the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, including an en banc argument in the case of Ocheltree v. Scollon Productions, Inc., a seminal case regarding the law of sexual harassment, in which many organizations (including the EEOC) made appearances and submitted amicus briefs, and which case was the subject of numerous articles, including an article in the New York Times. Bill has also argued several cases before the South Carolina Court of Appeals and the South Carolina Supreme Court. Bill has also developed a successful class action practice, being appointed by several different courts as lead counsel or liaison counsel in many different class action cases.

Chad was born and raised in St. Charles, Missouri just outside of St. Louis. He attended undergrad at Valparaiso University in Northwest Indiana and graduated in 2004 with a political science major. Chad then moved to Charleston, South Carolina in 2004 and attended the Charleston School of Law. He was part of the first graduating class and received his juris doctor degree in 2007. He was soon admitted to the South Carolina Bar and to the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina. After law school, in 2007, Chad joined the Berkeley County Public Defender’s office. He worked for nine years at the public defender’s office. Chad worked thousands of cases ranging from drug offenses, traffic violations to armed robbery and murder. He is well seasoned at going to trial and fighting hard for his clients. He obtained numerous not guilty verdicts at trial including Criminal sexual conduct, armed robberies and assaults. Even before trial, he got an attempted murder case dismissed at a preliminary hearing. He works diligently to get the best outcome for his client by evaluating risk. In 2015, Chad graduated from the National criminal defense college in Macon, Georgia. In 2016, He opened the doors to his own law office. In private practice, Chad was able to successfully get a dismissal on a Murder charge, Assault and Battery by a Mob, while also getting a not guilty verdict on an Armed Robbery. Being in private practice allowed Chad to expand his criminal representation to the magistrate and municipal level. While in magistrate court Chad has over a dozen not guilty verdicts at trial and nearly a hundred cases dismissed prior to trial. In 2019 and 2020, Chad was named as a top 100 criminal defense attorneys by the National Trial Lawyers Association. In addition to a member of the National Trial Lawyers Association, Chad is a member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, South Carolina Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Berkeley County Bar Association and Dorchester County Bar Association. Chad is also a member of the Business Networking International Lowcountry Business Professional’s chapter, where he previously served as the Vice-President and is currently the Member Mentor for the chapter. Chad lives in Charleston with his wife, Whitney, two children, Brian and James and two stepchildren, Erica and Chase. He sat on the board of his wife’s nonprofit organization Chase After a Cure who raises money for childhood cancer research. In addition, he has participated in Scouting as a Leader for his boys dens. He has sponsored and coached numerous youth baseball leagues. Chad was on the church counsel at St. Luke’s Lutheran church and serves as a commissioner for the Summerville Church Softball League.