Hall and Bowers, LLC

1329 Blanding Street
Columbia, South Carolina 29201

Mailing Address:
Post Office Box 12107
Columbia, South Carolina 29211

Telephone: (803) 454-6504
Facsimile: (803) 454-6509

Kevin Hall: Email, VCard
Butch Bowers: Email, VCard
Todd Carroll: Email, VCard

Public Policy Matters

Hall & Bowers’ team of attorneys met working on a successful gubernatorial campaign, so it is natural that the Firm’s practice would involve public policy issues. With experiences ranging from chairing the South Carolina Election Commission, serving as counsel to Senators Lindsey Graham and Jim Demint, and serving as Special Counsel for Voting Matters in the United States Department of Justice under President George W. Bush, we are able to analyze issues from all perspectives when advising clients on a host of public policy matters. A sample of these services and areas of expertise include:

  • Legislative Assistance, including drafting proposed legislation, advising clients with respect to the legal impact of proposed laws and amendments, and testifying before legislative committees and other government bodies regarding policy matters
  • First Amendment Issues, including matters relating to religious liberties, curing content-based and viewpoint discrimination by government, and enforcing associational rights
  • Forming and advising political committees, public policy organizations, and interest groups
  • Voting Rights
  • Campaign Finance and Campaign Practices Laws
  • Election Law, including poll-worker training, resolving Election Day issues, and litigating election protests
  • Freedom of Information Acts, including advising clients that are subject to these laws and submitting and responding to requests made pursuant to these laws
  • Charter School Laws
  • General Constitutional Litigation
  • State and Federal Separation-of-Powers Issues

We have appeared before numerous legislative bodies, agencies, trial courts, and appellate courts on these issues, and are certified in all South Carolina courts, District of Columbia courts, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court. For instance:

  • We recently submitted an amicus curiae brief in support of the position that states do not have a constitutional obligation to help labor unions collect political contributions, an argument that the United States Supreme Court adopted in Ysursa v. Pocatello Education Association, 555 U.S. ___, 129 S. Ct. 1093 (2009). A copy of this filing can be viewed here.
  • We were instrumental in the drafting and passage of 2005’s landmark tort reform legislation in South Carolina and 2007’s critical reforms to South Carolina’s workers’ compensation laws.
  • We successfully defended a South Carolina senator against an election protest and a South Carolina mayor against charges of a violation of the South Carolina Ethics Code.

We look forward to serving you and your organization on these matters.