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Kenneth M. Suggs: biographical
info • bar admissions • memberships
• public service • honors
& awards • publications
2005-2006 President of ATLA
Best Lawyers in America
American Board of
Trial Advocates
Advocate of the Year (South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center)
Kenneth M. Suggs, a principal in the
firm, heads the Janet, Jenner & Suggs Business Litigation Department. In the
past 30 years, Mr. Suggs has achieved remarkable successes for his clients along
the way to becoming one of the country’s leading trial attorneys. His extensive
experience in litigating business issues includes a recent successful case involving
a billion dollar company against a Fortune 500
corporation. The focus of his cases concern the egregious conduct of companies
in regard to breach
of contract, fraud
and misrepresentation, unethical business dealings, and unfairness
in government
contracts. His clients have ranged from cases in insurance, government,
manufacturing, agricultural, food service, and other industries—many of
which involved both compensatory and punitive damages.
Mr.
Suggs is the 2005-2006 President of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America
(see Press Release).
He is also a member of the Legal Affairs Committee and serves as co-chair of the
Public Affairs Committee. He has attained recognition as a Fellow of the
National College of Advocacy, and was named Advocate of the Year by the South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center.
He served as President of the South Carolina
Trial Lawyers Association in 1981 and currently serves on its Board of Governors
and Legislative Committee. Mr. Suggs was also awarded the South Carolina Trial
Lawyers Public Citizen Award in 2002.
Mr. Suggs
served as president of the Richland County Bar Association in 1999 and is a member
of the American Board of Trial Advocates. He is an Attorney Bencher for
the American Inns of Court, John Belton O’Neall Chapter, and a Fellow
of the American College of Trial Lawyers. He has also served as a member of the
US District Court Advisory Committee and was a co-draftsman of the South Carolina
Rules of Evidence, later adopted by the South Carolina Supreme Court. His
alma mater, the University of South Carolina School of Law, selected him as the
recipient of the Complete Lawyer Award in 1998. He served on the Clemson
University Board of Visitors (2000 - 2003), and was selected as a Clemson University
Alumni Fellow in 2000. Mr. Suggs graduated from Clemson
University with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics in 1968. After graduating from
Clemson, he served four years in the United States Navy, including two years in
the Vietnam Theater. From 1968 to 1972, Mr. Suggs served as a petty officer in
the U.S. Navy. From 1970 to 1972, he was assigned to the intelligence branch of
the Commander, Seventh Fleet, operating in the Vietnam Theater. During that time,
he was awarded the Combat Action Ribbon, Navy Achievement Medal, Vietnam Service
Medal, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, and an award from the government of
South Vietnam, the Vietnamese Honor Medal.
TOP
Biographical - Born September 24, 1946, Greenville,
South Carolina - Graduated T.L. Hanna H.S., Anderson,
South Carolina 1964
Graduated Clemson University,
B.A. in Economics, 1968
- Student Body Secretary
- South Carolina State Student Legislature
- President,
Kappa Sigma Nu social fraternity
United
States Navy, 1968 - 1972 Communications Technician
- 2d
Class Navy Achievement Medal with Combat "V"
- Vietnamese
Honor Medal (awarded by government of South Vietnam)
- Vietnamese
Campaign Ribbon
- Vietnamese Campaign Medal
- Combat
Action Ribbon
- Meritorious Unit Citation
- National
Defense Meda
Graduated University
of South Carolina Law Center, 1975
- Graduated
cum laude
- Order for Wig and Robe
- Moot
Court Board
TOP Bar
Admissions
- South Carolina Bar, 1975
- Fourth Circuit Court
of Appeals
- Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals
- United States Supreme
Court
Memberships Association
of Trial Lawyers of America - President
2005 - 2006
- ATLA President Elect 2004 - 2005
- Vice
President 2003 - 2004
- Secretary 2002 - 2003
- Treasurer
2001 - 2002
- Parliamentarian 2000 - 2001
- Board
of Governors 1989 - 2000
Committees
Chaired
- Legal Affairs Committee
- Public
Affairs Committee
- Judicial Independence Committee
-
Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers South Carolina Trial Lawyers Association,
President, 1980 - 1981
- South Carolina Bar, Young Lawyers Division, President,
1980
- Richland County Bar Association, President, 1999
- South Carolina
Bar, House of Delegates, 1982 and 1996 - 1997
- Trial Lawyers for Public Justice
- Founding Fellow, Southern Trial Lawyers Association
- Advocate, American
Board of Trial Advocates
- Attorney Bencher, American Inns of Court - John
Belton O'Neall Chapter
TOP Public
Service Activities - Board of Directors,
Carolina Sunshine Children, Inc.
- Team Captain, Trinity Cathedral Free Breakfast
Program
- Advisory Board, City Year Columbia
- Advisory Board, South Carolina
Center for Capital Litigation
- Advisory Board, South Carolina Appleseed Legal
Justice Center
- Advisory Board, St. Lawrence Place
- Member, South Carolina
Commission on Judicial Conduct
Honors
and Awards - South Carolina Trial Lawyers Association
President's Award, 1988
- South Carolina School
of Law Alumni Association, Complete Lawyer Award
Publications -
Author, "Failure Analysis of a Plastic Boat Seat,"
American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Pub. 87-DE-8
- Author, "Recovery
for Emotional Distress," S.C.T.L.A. Bulletin, January, 1984
- Author, "Secret Settlements," South Carolina Lawyer,
November - December, 1993
- Co-author, South Carolina Appellate Practice
Handbook
- Co-author, Evaluating and Settling Personal Injury Claims
in South Carolina
- Co-author, The Law of Automobile Insurance in
South Carolina | 
