Robert H. Brunson, who leads a large team of diverse legal talent spanning several of the Firm’s offices, is a partner of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP in Charleston. He and his team have developed expertise in a wide range of complex litigation areas because they are often called upon to respond to high risk/high reward client challenges. These challenges have taken many forms over Mr. Brunson’s 20-year career with Nelson Mullins. He has an impressive track record in automotive and recreational products liability cases, as well as in business and technology disputes. Much of Mr. Brunson’s most recent practice relates to land-use litigation, which has become more prevalent with more at stake in recent years. Mr. Brunson is skilled in all aspects of trial and appellate practice. He has taken cases to verdict in both state and federal courts and has handled post-trial and interlocutory appeals in several states. He has also guided large commercial disputes through extended mediation and arbitration proceedings in the United States and Europe.

This team’s practice is distinguished not only by its ability to bring the highest caliber of legal talent to attack the most significant litigation challenges, but also by its intentional, creative efforts to move the practice of law toward a more rational economic model. Mr. Brunson’s team is increasingly using technology and alternative resources to minimize costs to clients while continuing to produce the highest quality legal services. He and his team also make frequent use of project management techniques to provide forecasting, fixed fee billing, timelines, and clear risk analysis to clients who need to manage carefully the costs and timing of litigation efforts. He and his team are constantly looking for innovative ways to increase service quality and to reduce costs to clients. They are always open to offering or entertaining rational alternative billing arrangements to provide better incentives for more prompt and efficient resolution of litigation.

Mr. Brunson has conducted jury research in a variety of different jurisdictions in commercial, product liability, and class action lawsuits, and has developed a deep expertise in the use of jury research and focus groups in developing effective trial themes in both business and catastrophic injury litigation.

Mr. Brunson has published and spoken extensively on topics relating to complex litigation. His article, “Contribution in South Carolina -- Venturing into Uncharted Waters,” 41 S.C.L Rev. 533 (1990) remains a comprehensive and definitive guide to third party practice in South Carolina. Most recently, Mr. Brunson co-chaired a national seminar on automotive products liability for the American Bar Association Litigation Section and moderated a panel of distinguished lawyers and judges discussing tort reform issues in South Carolina.

Mr. Brunson served a judicial clerkship for the Honorable Karen L. Henderson, formerly Federal District Judge of the District of South Carolina and now Circuit Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

A member of the State Bar of Georgia and the South Carolina Bar, Mr. Brunson is admitted to practice before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth, Tenth, and Eleventh Circuits, and the U.S. District Courts for Middle Georgia, Northern Georgia and South Carolina. He is also a member of Outstanding Lawyers of America, the Litigation Section of the American Bar Association, the Defense Research Institute, and the South Carolina Defense Trial Attorneys’ Association.

As a part of his lifelong commitment to educational issues relating to disadvantaged youth, Mr. Brunson serves as the 2008-2009 Chairman of the Board of the Boys and Girls Club of America – Trident Area. He served as vice chairman from 2007-2008. He is also vice chair of the Board of Directors of the Children’s Garden School, where two of his three children have attended preschool. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough Center on Professionalism at the University of South Carolina School of Law and is a former chair of both the Recruiting Committee and the Associates Committee for Nelson Mullins.

Mr. Brunson is a native of Allendale, South Carolina, and has prior work experience in both print and broadcast journalism. Educated at Emory University (Bachelor of Arts in History and Political Science, 1984) and the University of South Carolina Law School (Juris Doctor, 1988). Mr. Brunson is the former editor in chief of the South Carolina Law Review. In law school, Mr. Brunson was a member of the Order of the Coif, the Order of Wig and Robe, and the Inn of Court.