Justia Legal Services & Lawyers Directory

Gary Christmas is a senior partner in the law firm of Howell & Christmas, LLC. His practice is dedicated to protecting the rights of the injured and their families including representing those injured on the job under the South Carolina Workers' Compensation Act, the Federal Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act, Defense Base Act, as well as negligence from DUI and other automobile accidents, with retail stores, bars, hotels, landlords and apartments, wrongful death and all other cases where there are victims who suffer injuries caused by the negligence of others. Gary is in his 14th year of practice and takes great pride in developing meaningful relationships and partnerships with his clients, doctors, other lawyers and other professionals. He earned his Juris Doctor degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law and his Bachelor of Arts degree in Government, cum laude, from the University of South Carolina where he received the University Scholars Award for exhibited academic excellence. During law school, Mr. Christmas was a research assistant to Professor John Montgomery, former Dean of the South Carolina School of Law, and worked with him and Professor David G. Owen, co-author of Prosser and Keeton on Torts, on their case book Products Liability & Safety (3rd ed.). He also worked as a research assistant for Professor Jon P. Thames on his book South Carolina Criminal Defense (3rd ed.) and received the American Jurisprudence Award for Damages and for Interviewing, Negotiating and Counseling. He is a member of the South Carolina Workers' Compensation Education Association, the Workers' Compensation Section of the South Carolina Bar, where he serves a Council Member, the Workers'Injury Law and Advocacy Group (WILG) where he serves on the State Legislative Committee and the South Carolina Injured Workers' Advocates (IWA) where he serves as Secretary of the organization and as Chairman of the Brief Bank Committee. He is a member of the American Association of Justice, the South Carolina Association of Justice, the United States Supreme Court Historical Society and the Small Business Chamber of Commerce. He is also a member of the South Carolina Bar and Charleston County Bar Associations and serves as a Mentor for the Lawyer Mentoring Pilot Program. Mr. Christmas is admitted to practice law before the South Carolina Bar, the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina and the U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit. He is also a Certified Circuit Court Mediator, has tried more than 200 cases, concentrating on legally complex issues, and has represented numerous clients in appellate practice including several appearances before the South Carolina Appeals Courts. Appellate decisions include: Lance v. Hawke v. Pat Mellen and Hurricane Restoration Fund, Employer, and South Carolina Uninsured Employers' Fund, (Ct. App. 1998, Unpublished); Jennifer Lynn Christmas and Jay Christmas v. Dale Eugene Enos, Jr, and A Rainbow of Carpets, Inc., (Ct. App. 2008, Unpublished); Otis W. Snipe v. SSA Cooper, LLC (Ct App. 2010, Unpublished); and Regina Rainey v. Nestle Frozen Foods and Constitution State Service Company, (S.C. Circuit Court 2003). The Rainey case was cited as one of the fifty most important court decisions for 2003 by Lawyers Weekly Newspaper.