| Benjamin E. Nicholson V | |
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| Overview | “I believe in making sure up front that my client appreciates the issues faced and that I understand the business goals of my client. My job is not only to conduct the litigation, but also to maximize the success of my client’s business objectives.”
Ned Nicholson is a native of Edgefield, South Carolina. Upon graduation from law school, Ned served for two years as Judicial Clerk to The Honorable Thomas L. Hughston, Jr., Judge, Eighth Judicial Circuit, South Carolina. He joined McNair Law Firm, P.A. in August 1989, and was a shareholder in the Litigation section before becoming Of Counsel in 1996. He again became a shareholder in 2003. During his time with McNair, he also for several years served as General Counsel to one of the largest human resources outsourcing companies in the country.
Ned has extensive experience in state and federal trial and appellate courts throughout the country. Ned's area of practice includes general commercial litigiation and arbitration, business disputes, insurance coverage disputes and construction law.
He regularly represents clients in business disputes and business dissolutions, technology implementation claims, manufacturer/dealer disputes; franchisor/franchisee disputes, unfair trade practice claims, contract disputes, employment lawsuits, insurance coverage and bad faith claims, intellectual property disputes, and construction matters (contract drafting, defective work claims, delay claims and mechanics liens). He has also participated in over a hundred mediations for clients seeking settlement of claims out of court. |
| | | Recent Engagements | Mr. Nicholson has served as lead counsel in matters that include:
- Successful appeal of $12 million dollar products liability verdict in a case in which he was retained after the verdict
- Successful defense in jury trial of multi-million dollar unfair trade practices claim between medical service providers
- Won multi-million dollar cost overage award for highway and bridge construction company against state highway department
- Won jury trial verdict in trademark infringement action and was awarded attorneys fees and injunctive relief; total verdict was twenty times more than defendant’s final offer to settle
- Arbitration of dispute between software manufacturer and customer regarding product performance and litigation regarding enforceability of arbitration clause
- Counsel in national Fair Housing Act test case for developer and National Association of Home Builders against municipality
- Prosecution and defense of commercial insurance coverage and bad faith trials tried before juries and judges
- Dispute on valuation of accounting firm after breakup tried before judge
- Filed Amicus Curiae brief in South Carolina Supreme Court on behalf of homebuilders on insurance coverage issue
- Representation of Fortune 500 company in multi-million dollar claim by subcontractor for substantial delay damages on highway construction project
- Expulsion of shareholder and lawsuit involving shareholder misconduct
- Representation of commercial and residential building owners in several EIFS (synthetic stucco) cases
- Representation of manufacturer in bad faith termination claim by watercraft dealer
- Representation of corporations as company counsel in shareholder derivative lawsuits
- Litigation between independent agents and employing leasing company
- Representation of real estate developer in dispute with investors
- Representation of several manufacturers against contractor and designer for plant construction and design deficiencies, all involving claims in excess of a million dollars
- Favorably settled multi-million dollar claim for contractor related to remediation project for decommissioning of Russian nuclear submarine
- Representation of claimant in first cyber-squatting case filed in South Carolina
- Successfully arbitrated claim for physician against former practice regarding compensation claims and practice valuation issues
- Counsel for Trustee of Employee Retirement Plan as a plaintiff in securities law class action
Mr. Nicholson's cases have twice been the subject of cover stories in South Carolina Lawyer's Weekly: Court Vacates Products Liability Verdict, Vol. 3, No. 47 (July 26, 2004) and Court Grants Judgment for Insurer in Bad Faith Suit, Vol. 2, No. 43 (June 30, 2003).
In addition to his experience representing clients, Mr. Nicholson was Chair of the Firm's Y2K Law Practice Group and was Chair of the Legal Enterprise Group of the South Carolina Governor's Y2K Coalition. |
| | | Professional and Community Involvement |
- Member of the American Bar Association
- ABA Construction Law Forum
- South Carolina Bar Association (former Chair of the Lawyers/Physician Relations Committee)
- Richland County Bar Association
- Elected into membership of the Legal Action Network for Development Strategies of the National Association of Home Builders as one of only two lawyers in South Carolina that have been invited to join that organization
- Past President of the Rotary Club of Five Points
- Graduate of Leadership Columbia
- Member of Shandon United Methodist Church
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