Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP (commonly referred to simply as Nelson Mullins) is a U.S.

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise consumer, clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and Obligation, respon ...

and

lobby group Lobbying is a form of advocacy, which lawfully attempts to directly influence legislators or government officials, such as regulatory agencies or judiciary. Lobbying involves direct, face-to-face contact and is carried out by various entities, in ...

based in

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is List of municipalities in South Carolina, the second-mo ...

. Nelson Mullins has over 1000 attorneys, policy advisors, and professionals across 33 offices serving clients in more than 100 practice areas. In 2023, the American Lawyer ranked the firm as the 68th largest law firm in the nation based on 2022 gross revenue. It is the largest law firm in

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

by number of lawyers.

History

The firm was founded by Patrick Henry Nelson II (1856-1914) of Camden and Columbia, S.C. Nelson was the Fifth Circuit Solicitor, President of the

South Carolina Bar The South Carolina Bar (SC Bar) is the integrated (mandatory) bar association of the U.S. state of South Carolina. Organization The South Carolina Bar began in 1884 as the South Carolina Bar Association, a professional organization of approximat ...

Association (1911-1912), and member of the

South Carolina House of Representatives The South Carolina House of Representatives is the lower house of the South Carolina General Assembly. It consists of 124 representatives elected to two-year terms at the same time as U.S. congressional elections. Unlike many legislatures, seatin ...

(1885-1887). His son, William Shannon Nelson (1881-1939) ran the firm after his father, as did William's son, Patrick Henry Nelson III (1910-1964). Patrick Henry Nelson II became a key player in one of South Carolina's most famous criminal trials, ''State v. Tillman.'' Nelson defended Lt. Gov. James Tillman for the murder of the editor of The State newspaper in Columbia. Nelson Mullins opened its 18th office in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

, MD in February 2018. On January 24, 2022, it announced the addition of 22 partners to the firm’s national litigation practice including new offices in Minneapolis, San Diego, and Richmond, with nine additional partners expected to be added in Dallas in the near future. As of 2023, Nelson Mullins had 33 offices including in Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, New York, and Washington, D.C. Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP celebrated 125 years of legal service in 2022.

Practice Areas

Corporate Law Corporate law (also known as company law or enterprise law) is the body of law governing the rights, relations, and conduct of persons, companies, organizations and businesses. The term refers to the legal practice of law relating to corpora ...

Venture Capital Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to start-up company, startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in ...

Intellectual Property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, co ...

Litigation A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. ...

Life Sciences This list of life sciences comprises the branches of science that involve the scientific study of life – such as microorganisms, plants, and animals including human beings. This science is one of the two major branches of natural science, ...

Mergers and Acquisitions Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of a company, business organization, or one of their operating units is transferred to or consolidated with another entity. They may happen through direct absorpt ...

Products Liability Product liability is the area of law in which manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, retailers, and others who make products available to the public are held responsible for the injuries those products cause. Although the word "product" has br ...

* Real Estate *

Trusts and Estates English trust law concerns the protection of assets, usually when they are held by one party for another's benefit. Trusts were a creation of the English law of property and obligations, and share a subsequent history with countries across the ...

Notable lawyers and alumni

* Butler Derrick, former

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

for *

Trey Gowdy Harold Watson "Trey" Gowdy III (born August 22, 1964) is an American television news presenter, former politician and former federal prosecutor who served as the U.S. representative for from 2011 to 2019. His district included much of the Upsta ...

, former federal prosecutor who served as the

for

South Carolina's 4th congressional district South Carolina's 4th congressional district is a congressional district in upstate South Carolina bordering North Carolina. It includes parts of Greenville and Spartanburg counties. The district includes the two major cities of Greenville ...

from 2011 to 2019. Currently a frequent

Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...

contributor. * William C. Hubbard, currently dean of the

University of South Carolina School of Law The University of South Carolina Joseph F. Rice School of Law, also known as South Carolina Law School, is a professional school within the University of South Carolina. Founded in 1867, it is the only public and non-profit law school in South Car ...

, former President of the American Bar Association (2014-2015) and member of the council of the

American Law Institute The American Law Institute (ALI) is a research and advocacy group of judges, lawyers, and legal scholars limited to 3,000 elected members and established in 1923 to promote the clarification and simplification of United States common law and i ...

. *

Philip Lader Philip Lader (born March 17, 1946), is a former US Ambassador to the Court of St. James’s and former chairman of WPP plc, the global advertising and communications services firm. As a senior adviser to Morgan Stanley, he serves on several o ...

, former U.S. Ambassador to the Court of St. James's (1997-2001). * A. Marvin Quattlebaum Jr., currently the

United States circuit judge In the United States, a federal judge is a judge who serves on a court established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. Often called "Article III judges", federal judges include the chief justice and associate justices of the U.S. Su ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (in case citations, 4th Cir.) is a United States federal court, federal court located in Richmond, Virginia, with appellate jurisdiction over the United States district court, district cou ...

. He was formerly a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...

of the

United States District Court for the District of South Carolina The United States District Court for the District of South Carolina (in case citations, D.S.C.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of South Carolina. Court is held in the cities of Aiken, Anderson, Beaufort, Charle ...

. *

Marco Rubio Marco Antonio Rubio (; born May 28, 1971) is an American politician, lawyer, and diplomat serving since 2025 as the 72nd United States Secretary of State, United States secretary of state. A member of the Republican Party (United States) , Rep ...

, American politician and former speaker of the

Florida House of Representatives The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the C ...

sought the Republican nomination for president of the United States in 2016 and is currently serving as senior

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

. *

Richard Riley Richard Wilson Riley (born January 2, 1933) is an American politician who served as the sixth United States secretary of education from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton and as the 111th governor of South Carolina from 1979 to 1987. He ...

, served as the

United States Secretary of Education The United States secretary of education is the head of the United States Department of Education. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States, and the federal government, on policies, programs, and activi ...

under

President Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the attor ...

(1993-2001) and the 111th Governor of

(1979-1987). * Dennis Wicker, former Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina (1994-2001). * David Wilkins, former U.S.

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

during the administration of President George W. Bush. * Solomon L. Wisenberg, served as Deputy Independent Counsel in the Whitewater/Lewinsky Investigation and selected by Judge Kenneth Starr to conduct grand jury questioning of

. *

George Wolfe (CPA) George B. Wolfe was born and raised in Columbia, South Carolina. In December 2023, he retired as a partner in the law firm of Nelson Mullins in Columbia, South Carolina. His practice was focused on representing foreign and domestic companies e ...

, former employee of the

United States Government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct ...

, worked for the

Coalition Provisional Authority The Coalition Provisional Authority (; , CPA) was a Provisional government, transitional government of Iraq established following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, invasion of the country on 19 March 2003 by Multi-National Force – Iraq, U.S.-led Co ...

in 2003–2004. *

Jim Moran James Patrick Moran Jr. (born May 16, 1945) is an American politician who served as the mayor of Alexandria, Virginia, from 1985 until 1990, and as the U.S. representative for , including the cities of Falls Church and Alexandria, all of Arl ...

, served as the mayor of

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in Northern Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Washington, D.C., D.C. The city's population of 159,467 at the 2020 ...

from 1985 to 1990. He is a member of the Democratic Party and chaired the

New Democrat Coalition The New Democrat Coalition is a caucus in the House of Representatives of the United States Congress made up of Democrats, primarily liberals and centrists, who take a pro-business stance and a liberal-to-moderate approach to fiscal matte ...

from 1997 to 2001.

References

External links

Nelson Mullins HomepageEducationCounsel

Nelson Mullins Encompass

Assureg
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson Mullins Riley and Scarborough Law firms established in 1897 Companies based in Columbia, South Carolina Lobbying firms Law firms based in South Carolina 1897 establishments in South Carolina