Top Health Care Lawyers Near Me in Columbia Area

Kelly is a trial lawyer with experience in corporate, health care, privacy, and information technology law. Kelly is known for providing strategic guidance through complex business and regulatory issues and offering practical insight on matters involving health information exchanges, electronic medical records, vendor agreements, and data privacy. Kelly's practice areas include health care law, commercial litigation, and medical related litigation. She regularly advises business owners, non-profit boards, and health care clients on employment issues, acquisitions, corporate transactions, vendor agreements, Stark and anti-kickback laws, HIPAA, HITECH, health information technology, and patient privacy issues.

I was born and raised in Walterboro, South Carolina.  After graduating in 1969 with a BS in Business Administration from the University of South Carolina, I went to the University of South Carolina School of Law, where I earned my Juris Doctorate Degree in 1973.  After graduation from law school, I formed the partnership of Hunter & McWhirter with James Earl Hunter.  Hunter & McWhirter was a general practice law firm with an emphasis on personal injury law.  That same year I was admitted to practice by the Supreme Court of the State of South Carolina, the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina and, later, was admitted to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.. In 1977, I was elected by the Lexington County Bar Association to the position of Public Defender for Lexington County.  The office was formed for the purpose of providing legal representation to indigent criminal defendants, and I held that position for fourteen years.. While working part-time as Public Defender for Lexington County, I continued to build our law practice, and in 1986, formed the firm which became McWhirter & Associates.  At that time, our practice focused on the various areas of personal injury law, including workers' compensation, auto accidents, medical malpractice, wrongful death, premises liability and products liability.  In 1988, we expanded the firm to include an office in Columbia, South Carolina.  Since then, we have added offices in Orangeburg, Sumter, Newberry, Camden and Aiken.. We continue to strive to give the very best legal service to the thousands of clients we have been honored to serve over the past 40 years.. Any result our firm may achieve on behalf of one client in one matter does not necessarily indicate similar results can be obtained for other clients.

Hello;. I am in my mid 50's, happily married for over 30 years, with two adult children. I have been practicing law in Columbia and all across the State of Missouri for over 20 years. I had a real life and career before entering the practice of law. My prior work experiences included acting as a Sales Representative and Territory Manager, short run Trucking, welding, security for a bar and many other excellent opportunities to learn about life.. My law practice included cases in front of Juries and Judges, administrative hearing panels, mediations, Municipal Court, State Court, Federal Court, the Missouri Courts of Appeal, and the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. I have handled simple traffic matters, complex divorces, Medical Malpractice claims, professional licensing issues for clients, Pharmaceutical products liability, auto crashes, motorcycle crashes, wrongful death cases.  I have handled nearly every type of State level case possible. Those experiences and my life experience help me to work with my clients, to assist them in complex situations, to negotiate firmly and fairly with the other side. My litigation experience lets the other side know I will go to trial if they will not be fair.. Recently, I have shifted my caseload to limit my practice to three areas. First, cases involving fraud committed against State and Federal Governments. I am working on several such cases now, and in 2012, I was successful with a high level False Claims Act case, assisting the Federal Government with recovery of over $150,000, for a case involving Mortgage Fraud. I also represented a whistleblower in a medical fraud case where I recovered @$15,000, for the Federal Government and the state of Missouri. I am in the process of closing another case where the whistleblower I represented recovered @$4,000, for the Federal Government.  Second, I am also handling small business matters, including litigation.  Third, I am commencing my practice as a Mediator Neutral. My life experiences and courtroom experiences will be of great assistance to both sides of civil mediations. I have also completed significant training at the University of Missouri for mediators. I have participated in many mediations.. My experiences help me every day identify with clients, all the way from business owners to the regular folks who need some help. My firm is dedicated to helping people whenever possible. If you need help with a legal problem, I'd appreciate your call.. Thanks,. Finley D. Gibbs