Frank L.P. Barnwell is a practicing lawyer in the state of South Carolina specializing in Accident & Injury; Estate; Lawsuit & Dispute; Real Estate; and Traffic Law. Mr. Barnwell received his J.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1976.

Based in Greenville, South Carolina, our lawyers have over 40 years of combined experience, we represent individuals, small businesses and corporations throughout South Carolina. Our goal is to provide fair, honest representation and achieve successful results. Our primary focus involves work-related issues arising from on-the-job accidents, repetitive trauma, occupational diseases, exposure to chemicals or other toxins, traumatic brain injury, and spinal cord injury. We have participated in hundreds of workers’ compensation hearings over the years. We have experience with catastrophic cases involving permanent brain injury, spinal cord injury, paralysis, and paraplegia. Our emphasis on job-related claims led us into our other practice areas, Immigration, Social Security Disability, and Brain Injury. We have handled numerous Social Security Hearings and Immigration matters. Because of the growing number of Hispanic clients we serve, we have a Spanish speaking paralegal devoted to assisting with their cases. Se Habla Español. For more than 10 years, we have been recognized by Martindale-Hubbell with an AV rating, the highest rating for legal ability and ethical standards. Since our firm was founded, we have been listed every year in A.M. Best’s Directory of Recommended Insurance Attorneys. We also received a “Superb” rating from AVVO, an online lawyer rating service. Our lawyers’ memberships include the South Carolina Workers’ Compensation Educational Association, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the South Carolina Bar Workers’ Compensation Section, the Greenville County Bar, the South Carolina Bar, the State Bar of Georgia, and the North Carolina State Bar. We want to help our clients better understand the challenges and opportunities presented by their particular situation, keep them informed throughout the process and achieve successful results. Our clients’ interests come first. Flexible fee arrangements, including contingency fees, flat fees, hourly billing, and value based billing are available.

James Craven proudly serves Greenville, South Carolina and the neighboring communities in the areas of criminal defense, divorce & family, lawsuit & dispute, intellectual property, and business law.

A graduate of the University of South Carolina School of Law and a life-long South Carolina resident, Matt Jepertinger focuses his practice at Callison Tighe on civil litigation. Prior to law school and a legal career, Matt earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Francis Marion University and worked as a Registered Nurse in an intensive care unit at a large South Carolina regional medical center. In his legal practice, Matt combines his medical experience and training with the practice of law. This experience gives his clients insight when being advised on their legal rights and any potential claims involving the healthcare industry. After leaving the medical field, Matt attended law school at the University of South Carolina and was the recipient of the William P. Walker Jr. Scholarship. During law school, Matt served as a member of the Moot Court Bar and as a staff member of the ABA Real Property, Trust & Estate Law Journal. Matt earned Dean’s List honors multiple semesters and won the prestigious CALI Award in Trial Advocacy, an honor given to the student with the highest score in a given law school class. Between semesters, Matt worked as a summer associate for two South Carolina law firms, focusing on healthcare fraud, white collar criminal defense and real estate litigation. Matt came to Callison Tighe in his final year of law school and joined the firm as an associate attorney after successfully being admitted to the South Carolina Bar. Matt has volunteered in Central and South America and has summitted Mt. Kilimanjaro, the tallest freestanding mountain in the world and one of the Seven Summits.

Blake Smith has been representing plaintiffs in medical negligence and other personal injury cases for over 15 years. He is the managing partner of Parham Smith and Archenhold, LLC, formerly Parham and Smith, which is based in Greenville, South Carolina but handles cases all over the state of South Carolina. Blake’s firm has been listed in Martindale Hubbell’s Bar Register of Pre-Eminent Lawyers and Blake has been AV rated, the highest rating possible, given by his peers and in both legal ability and ethics. He has been named to South Carolina’s Super Lawyers, an award bestowed upon 2% of lawyers in the State, based upon their performance in the practice of law. While maintaining a busy and continually growing practice, Blake also serves upon the Advisory Board for the Paralegal Program at Greenville Technical College. He recently completed his 10th year as an adjunct pro bono professor at Clemson University where he teaches Sports Law.

Attorney W. Chris Castro is a solo practitioner and the founder of the Castro Law Firm, LLC located in Greenville, South Carolina. His practice primarily focuses on the areas of Criminal Law, Civil Law, Family Law, and Veterans Disability Law. Mr. Castro also practices Appellate Court work and has argued appeals at the South Carolina Court of Appeals. Mr. Castro can assist prospective clients in most upstate South Carolina counties to include Greenville County, Pickens County, Spartanburg County, and Anderson County. Mr. Castro graduated from Clemson University in 1987 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting. After practicing public accounting in Atlanta, Georgia, Mr. Castro returned to Clemson University where he earned a Master’s Degree in Professional Accountancy in 1990. In 1992 Chris became licensed as a Certified Public Accountant in South Carolina. Chris practiced public accounting for the firms of Ernst & Young, and KPMG Peat Marwick, before going on to work in private industry for several years. In 2003 Chris attended law school at the University of Dayton, in Dayton, Ohio where he graduated with honors, Cum Laude, in 2006. While in law school Chris worked in the Law Clinic where he represented indigent clients in the Montgomery County criminal courts. During his tenure at the University of Dayton School of Law Chris earned the CALI award for academic excellence in both the Professional Responsibility (Ethics) course and the Student Law Clinic course. Chris enlisted in the South Carolina Army National Guard in 1988 and went on to attend and graduate from the Palmetto Military Academy Officer Candidate School. He was subsequently commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the South Carolina Army National Guard. Chris currently holds the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the North Carolina Army National Guard. During his twenty-eight years in the military Chris has served three active duty deployments with the United States Army. Two of these deployments were to the combat zones of Kuwait and Afghanistan. Chris was most recently deployed from 2015-2016 to Kosovo, a former province of the Republic of Yugoslavia. Chris continues to serve today as a Lieutenant Colonel in the North Carolina National Guard. After law school Chris practiced law in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for several years. He served as a contract public defender for two years representing clients in the Georgetown County Court of General Sessions. While living in Myrtle Beach Chris practiced law in Horry and Georgetown Counties in the areas of Criminal Law, Civil Law, Family Law, and Veterans Disability Law.

Gene M. Connell, Jr. has been a member of the law firm since 1983. With his vast experience in many legal areas, he has received an “AV” rating with Martindale Hubbell, the most prestigious lawyer rating service in the country. He has been involved in some of the largest class-action suits ever brought in South Carolina, one of which (Bass v. State of South Carolina) went all the way to the United States Supreme Court before it was successfully settled. He has also argued numerous appeals before the South Carolina Supreme Court, the South Carolina Court of Appeals, the South Carolina Workers’ Compensation Commission Appellate Division, the United States District Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Additionally, he has served as an expert witness in class actions on the issue of attorneys’ fees in both state and federal courts. Mr. Connell’s trial practice has included being a Mediator for other lawyers and being appointed by the Circuit Court as a Special Referee (Special Judge) to hear cases. He was also selected as the “National Trial Lawyers Top 100” in 2014 and chosen ” Best of The Beach” Lawyer.

Wes represents individuals and companies in matters in state and federal court and also regularly advise clients in transactions, corporate, employment, and compliance matters. For corporate clients that can benefit from consistent, readily available legal advice, Wes acts as an outside general counsel. He also handles individual and corporate defamation cases, breach of contract matters, corporate/shareholder disputes, personal injury cases and wrongful termination cases for both defendants and plaintiffs. We has represented plaintiffs and defendants on federal and state whistleblower cases involving healthcare and banking fraud . Wes regularly represent individuals and entities, particularly health care professionals, on the full range of state licensing and regulatory matters, including Certificate of Need applications and disputes. Wes regularly advises health care clients in corporate matters and regulatory and compliance advice including the development of compliance programs and advising on Stark, Antikickback and other federal and state law compliance. He regularly represent health care providers including Nursing Homes, Hospices, Physicians, Hospitals, Dentists and others with ZPIC, RAC and other federal and state audits to include initial response and appeal of audit findings.

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.