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Experience

After completing his undergraduate degree at Duke University and his law degree at Duke University Law School,   Brent served as  Counsel to the Speaker of the House of South Carolina, the Honorable Robert J. Sheheen.  He then proceeded to clerk for the late Judge Mathew J. Perry, United States District Judge for the District of South Carolina.

 

Brent then joined the law firm of Haynsworth, Marion, McKay and Guerard (now Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd) as an associate and was later made a partner where he served as lead counsel in insurance defense cases, intellectual property cases, discrimination cases, product liability cases, sports apparel cases and appellate cases.  Brent was also the lead counsel representing South Carolina governmental entities.

 

Brent moved to Womble Carlyle (now Womble Bond Dickinson) as a partner where his practice expanded to include the defense of class actions, domestic and international arbitrations, litigation strategies for European based international corporations, and insurance coverage litigation.  Brent was part of a distinguished team of attorneys who represented the Honorable James H. Hodges, Governor of South Carolina, in the South Carolina Reapportionment cases based on the United States census of 2000.
 

Practice Areas (Domestic & International)
Brent has appeared as an advocate in mediations and settlement negotiations involving cases in both federal and state courts in the United States.  These matters included personal injury cases, trademark infringement cases, patent cases, insurance class actions, multi-district litigation, consumer contracts, sports apparel contracts and securities matters.  Typically these cases involved mandatory directives from the relevant court to mediate or participate in some other type of alternative dispute resolution.  

 

Brent has acted as lead counsel in negotiations/dispute resolution meetings in Europe concerning contracts and competing international arbitration clauses in matters seated throughout Europe and involving multiple arbitral institutions.   These multi-year disputes and negotiations also involved the threat of parallel litigation in the United States.  Brent has represented clients in international arbitrations concerning non-compete contracts, employment disputes, breach of contract, reinsurance and resort sales contracts.

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Leadership and Community Memberships:

  • President Atlanta International Arbitration Society (AtLAS)

  • Chair, South Carolina Bar International Committee

  • Vice Chair, USCIB Southeastern Arbitration Subcommittee

  • Member,  United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit  Judicial Conference

  • Member, of the American Law Institute (ALI)

  • Member, Consulting Group of the ALI Restatement of the US Law of International Arbitration

  • Member, ABA ROLI Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative (CEELI) Council

  • Member, Judge Waites Waring Statue Committee

  • Member, Delta Beta Boulé,  Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity

  • Member,  Greenville Chapter Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity

  • Honorary Member, Duke University Law School Board of Visitors

  • Mentor,  Delta Beta Boulé/The FIVE Network

  • Coach, The Charleston School of Law Vis Moot Team 2021 Annual Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot Court Competition 

  • Former General Counsel Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) 

  • Former Member, Executive Committee and Board of Directors TMCF

  • Former Chair, Phillis Wheatley Association

  • Former Chair,  Womble Bond Dickinson Diversity Committee  

  • Former Member, Duke Athletic Counsel

  • Former Member, United Way Alexis de Tocqueville Society

  • Former Member, African-American Leadership Council of the United Way

  • Former Member, South Carolina Council on Competitiveness

  • Past Chair, Greenville Area Development Corporation (GADC)

  • Past Member of the Executive Committee, South Carolina Chamber of Commerce

  • Past Member of the Executive Committee, Greenville S.C. Chamber of Commerce  

  • Past Member of the Executive Committee, Duke University Alumni Association

  • Past President, Greenville County Bar Association

  • Past Chair, South Carolina Bar Trial and Appellate Advocacy Committee

  • Past Chair, Greenville Hospital System Foundation Board of Directors

  • Past Member Greenville Technical College Foundation Board

  • Past Member, Washington, D.C. Ballet Diversity Council 

  • Past Vice-Chair, South Carolina Supreme Court Historical Society

 

Awards and Recognition:

  • Super Lawyers Honoree 2022

  • Best Lawyers 2022 Commercial Litigation

  • Greenville Business Magazine Legal Elite, 2020

  • 2015 Savoy Magazine, 100 Most Influential Black Attorneys

  • Elected Member of the American Law Institute

  • Thurgood Marshall College Fund Founder’s Award

  • Member, Washington, D.C. Ballet Diversity Council 

  • Vice-Chair, South Carolina Supreme Court Historical Society

  • Greenville Business Magazine  Person of the Year

  • Recipient of the Womble Carlyle Leon Rice Award for Service to the Community 

  • Greenville-Spartanburg Alumni Chapter Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Leadership Award

  • Greenville-Spartanburg Alumni Chapter Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Guide Right Award

  • Mu Pi Chapter Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Citizen of the Year

  • Forever Duke Award

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