Matthew T. Richardson

Appellate Advocacy

Class Action Litigation

Governmental Representation

Intellectual Property

Litigation

Plaintiff’s Personal Injury Practice

Product Liability

Shareholder Oppression

Whistleblower and False Claims Act Litigation

Plaintiff’s Medical Malpractice Litigation

Matthew’s practice focuses mostly on complex civil litigation, and he has participated in some of the largest and most complicated litigation in South Carolina in the past 20 years, including the largest minority owner oppression litigation, the largest public utility rate case, the largest public corruption investigation and prosecution in a generation, the statewide redistricting challenges, statewide consumer protection litigation, and a federal constitutional challenge to temporary rate relief after construction was abandoned on the new nuclear power plant. Matthew represents a class of all foster care children in South Carolina for systemic reforms and is lead counsel in the state constitutional challenge to the South Carolina Heritage Act. He also handles personal injury, business litigation, and government and election law matters. His experience includes jury trials, bench trials, agency hearings and contested cases, preliminary motions and injunctions, dispositive motions and permanent injunctions, class action certification determinations, mediations, arbitrations, and appeals. Matthew is based in our Columbia, SC office.

South Carolina Bar

District of South Carolina

Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals

District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals

United States Supreme Court

American College of Trial Lawyers, Fellow

Fourth Circuit Judicial Conference, Permanent Member

USC School of Law, Adjunct Professor

South Carolina Access to Justice Commission, Chair, 2014-17

South Carolina Association for Justice: President, 2012-13

2010 Democratic Nominee for Attorney General of South Carolina

Federal Bar Association, President of the South Carolina Chapter, 2004–05

John Belton O’Neall Inn of Court, Member

American Association for Justice

American Bar Association Foundation, Fellow

Richland County Bar Association, Bench-Bar Liaison Committee, 2007–23

Matthew has appeared in federal and state courts regularly since joining the Bar, and in a variety of matters, including:

Lead counsel in the largest minority shareholder oppression litigation in South Carolina, involving multiple entities organized in multiple states with more than $350 million in net asset value in multiple countries

Lead counsel in multi-million dollar consumer protection litigation on behalf of all 16 state circuit solicitors representing all 46 South Carolina counties

Lead counsel for the state agency charged with protecting the public interest in the biggest South Carolina utility rate case involving $5 billion

Lead counsel for the primary target in the largest State Grand Jury public corruption investigation and prosecution in 25 years in South Carolina

Lead counsel for SC Senate in successfully defending against constitutional challenges to $270 million in temporary rate relief for 780,000 ratepayers after construction of a new nuclear power plant was abandoned

Lead counsel in obtaining an arbitration award in business litigation with a value in excess of $25 million involving one of South Carolina’s largest privately held companies

Lead counsel for a class of all foster care children in South Carolina for systemic constitutional and statutory violations and for monitoring successful completion of the implementation plans

Local counsel for collection of a judgment on behalf of terrorist victims against competing claims for funds that had been frozen in the District of South Carolina

Lead counsel for a retrocessionaire in multiple claims for direct and successor liability in underlying tort cases

Lead counsel in minority ownership claims against a professional services business with more than 270,000 customers in three states

University of South Carolina School of Law