Law firm opens 7th office: Smith Moore Leatherwood adds Charleston location

A Southeast regional law firm is expanding to coastal South Carolina by hanging out its shingle in downtown Charleston.

Smith Moore Leatherwood LLP plans to launch its seventh office today at 171 Church St. with four local attorneys, including former Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough lawyer Bobby Pearce, who also is chairman of the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce.

"We've had our eye on Charleston for a while," said Rob Marcus, chairman of Smith Moore Leatherwood's management committee. "We see it as a city on the move."

Among the local attractions for the firm were the projected economic spin-off from the Boeing Co.'s 787 aircraft plant and Clemson University's wind turbine research center. Marcus said those types of high-profile investments have helped elevate the region from "a national cultural and travel destination into an international business hub."

"Charleston is going to be a dynamic and growing area for business, which we think that is going to lead to increased demand for sophisticated legal services," he said.

Pearce and H. Michael Bowers, formerly of Charleston-based Wilkes Bowers Attorneys at Law, were named partners. They will be joined by Laura Johnson Evans, a onetime in-house lawyer for Roper St. Francis Healthcare, and Neil D. Thomson, formerly with Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd.

SML has about 170 attorneys in three states. Its major practice areas include litigation, health care, labor, employment, real estate and corporate law.

Pearce said Tuesday that he was ready for a change of pace and work culture after spending 12 years at the 420-lawyer Nelson Mullins, which he described as a "megafirm." He said he was seeking more balance in his personal life and a different business model. SML was an ideal fit, he said.

"I wanted to go back to the roots and tradition of the old Southern law firm," Pearce said.

Bowers said the deal gives the attorneys in the local office access to a deep bench of legal expertise. "We think this will be an opportunity for us to better service out existing clients and expand our client base."

SML's South Carolina presence had been limited to a Greenville office that it picked up through a 2008 merger. Its other locations are in Atlanta and Charlotte, Greensboro, Raleigh and Wilmington N.C.

The firm's expansion comes about a week after a longtime Charleston law firm Buist Moore Smythe McGee announced it is merging with Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, the largest legal practice based in North Carolina. That deal is set to close later this week.

Reach John McDermott at 937-5572.