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Law school names Dan Ballou to help govern new SC Law Initiative

The University of South Carolina School of Law has appointed Morton & Gettys Partner Dan Ballou to the South Carolina Law Initiative, a new entity that will advise the S.C. Legislature as to the likely effect of proposed legislation on state law.

Prof. Robert M. Wilcox, the director of the new Initiative, has asked Dan to be one of 25 attorneys to serve on the body’s initial governing council. Each member has been approved by law school Dean William Hubbard.

The Initiative was formed at the request of the South Carolina General Assembly to provide informed research and nonpartisan guidance from law faculty and members of the South Carolina Bar on proposed additions or revisions to state law, particularly with regard to the proposed adoption or revision of uniform laws. Its purpose “will be to provide research and guidance, not to lobby for or against particular legislation,” according to Wilcox.

The Initiative will retain experts in the subject area of a bill to study and report on the likely impact of the legislation on South Carolina law. Each report will include detailed research showing how a bill would clarify or change existing state law.

The Initiative will offer reports regarding the proposed legislation – along with testimony, when requested – before appropriate legislative committees.

“It is a great honor to join such an effort to help our lawmakers be fully aware of the likely effects of legislation on the overall body of law in our state,” said Dan.

Dan is a seasoned civil litigator with experience at all levels of federal and state courts in South Carolina. He represents clients in hearings and trials in the court system as well as before local councils, agencies and commissions. He also practices business and corporate law, and education law.

He is an alumnus of the University of South Carolina School of Law, having earned his Juris Doctor there in 1991. Before that, he received his bachelor’s degree in history from Princeton University in 1987.