Richard (Dick) Willis is a Partner in the Columbia S.C. office of Williams Mullen, and Chair of its Products Litigation section. He was formerly the head of the Environmental Litigation Practice at Nelson Mullins and the former Managing Partner of the South Carolina Office of Bowman and Brooke. He represents manufacturing and commercial clients in product liability, environmental and business litigation in all state and federal courts in which he is admitted to practice. Mr. Willis is a member of the Bars of South Carolina(1981) and Georgia (1990), and has appeared before most appellate and adminsitrative courts in the region. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of South Carolina School of Law, where he teaches Trial Advocacy and Rhetoric. He is a frequent speaker and writer on trial tactics and substantive issues pertaining to his practice areas. Mr. Willis is A+ rated by Martindale-Hubbard. He is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, where he serves as regional representative to the Trial Competition Committee. He is a recipient of the SC Bar's 2015 Trial and Appellate Advocacy Award; the Burton Award for excellence in legal periodical writing (2012); and the SC Lawyers Weekly Leadership in Law Award (2014). He is the immediate past President of the South Carolina Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), and is a member of DRI's Trial Tactics Committee, IADC, the John Belton O'Neill Inn of Court (former Program Chair and Board Member), the SC Defense Trial Attorneys Association (former Board Member), and the Georgia Defense Attorneys Association (Trial Academy Faculty). Mr. Willis is a certified Mediator and Arbitrator in South Carolina, and serves as a court appointed and volunteer mediator in Richland and Lexington Counties. Mr. Willis holds a J.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Law (1981) and a B.A. (English) from the University of the South, Sewanee Tennessee (1978). Specialties: Products Liability, Environmental and Toxic Tort Litigation, Commercial Litigation, Insurance Defense, Civil Mediation.