Annual Awards
Celebrating Excellence Through Recognition
The Richland County Bar presents several awards to outstanding members at our Annual Meeting. Annual award nominations can be made at any time during the year using this Nominations form. You may also reach out directly to Mandy Wren.
John W. Williams Distinguished Service Award
The John W. Williams Distinguished Service Award, affectionately known as the “Tootie” Williams Award, is based upon distinguished and meritorious service to the legal profession or to the public in professional-related activities. The Williams Distinguished Service Award is the highest recognition given by our association.
Past Recipients
Thomas E. McCutchen, Jr.
Julian J. Nexsen
David W. Robinson, II (1988)
I.S. Leevy Johnson
The Honorable Alexander M. Sanders, Jr. (1990)
Edward W. Mullins, Jr. (1991)
John Gregg McMaster Jr. (1992)
Terrell L. Glenn, Sr. (1993)
Chief Justice Jean Hoefer Toal (1994)
The Honorable Robert H. Burnside (1995)
Julius “Jay” W. McKay (1996)
Heyward E. McDonald (1997)
The Honorable Carol Connor (1998)
The Honorable Matthew J. Perry, Jr. (1999)
Jeter E. Rhodes, Jr. (awarded posthumously) (2000)
Lester L. Bates, Jr. (2001)
Henry Hammer (2002)
The Honorable Jasper M. Cureton (2003)
Claude M. Scarborough, Jr. (2004)
D. Reece Williams, III (2005)
Joe E. Berry, Jr. (2006)
Luther J. Battiste, III (2007)
William C. Hubbard (2008)
Kenneth M. Suggs (2009)
Robert “Bob” D. Coble (2010)
William “Bill” C. Boyd (2011)
Elizabeth “Betsy” Bradley (2012)
David E. Dukes (2013)
Carl B. Epps (2014)
The Honorable Beth E. Bernstein (2015)
Robert A. “Bob” McKenzie (2016)
The Honorable Costa M. Pleicones (2017)
R. Davis “Dave” Howser (2018)
Dean Robert M. Wilcox (2019)
Lanneau “Lanny” Wm. Lambert, Jr. (2020)
D. Michael Kelly (2020)
John D. Kassel (2021)
John P. Freeman (awarded posthumously) (2021)
Steven W. Hamm (2022)
Jack B. Swerling (2023)
Lesley M. Coggiola (2024)
Elizabeth Van Doren Gray (2025)
Criteria for Selection
- The candidate must be a current or former member of the Richland County Bar. He/she may be in active practice, a member of the judiciary, retired, or in some other legal-related office.
- The award should be based upon distinguished and meritorious service to the legal profession and/or the public in a profession-related activity; such service may be over a period of time or may be for particular conduct within a short time frame.
- Character. The candidate ought to be someone worthy of general admiration from a moral and ethical point of view.
- Age should not be a factor in the selection.
- Members of the RCBA Executive Committee at the time the award is made are not eligible.
Civic Star Award
Commitment to community service is important to the members of RCBA. Established in 1991, the Civic Star Award is based upon exceptional and meritorious service to the Richland County community by a member of the RCBA for activities outside of the legal profession.
Past Recipients
Edwin P. Martin (1991)
Edward M. Woodward, Jr. (1992)
Elliot D. “Duby” Thompson (1993)
D. Cravens Ravenel (1994)
David E. Belton (1995)
D. Michael Kelly (1996)
George B. Cauthen (1998)
The Honorable J. Michelle Childs
The Honorable Rosalyn W. Frierson-Smith (2002)
Jane W. Trinkley (2003)
Anthony C. Hayes (2005)
Matthew B. Hill (2005)
Amy L.B. Hill (2006)
Stephen K. Benjamin (2007)
James E. Smith, Jr. (2008)
Gray T. Culbreath (2009)
Stephen G. “Steve” Morrison (2010)
James H. Harrison (2011)
Kathleen M. McDaniel (2012)
J. Hagood Tighe (2013)
Pamela Robinson (2014)
W. Cliff Moore III (2015)
Keith M. Babcock (2016)
Thomas McRoy “Roy” Shelley III (2016)
Kirby D. Shealy III (2017)
Nekki Shutt (2018)
Douglas S. Strickler (awarded posthumously) (2018)
Lindsay A. Joyner (2019)
E. Meredith Manning (2020)
Jack E. Cohoon (2021)
Katherine Myers (2022)
Stuart M. Andrews, Jr. (2023)
Olivia Stafford Jones (2024)
La’Jessica Stringfellow (2025)
The Honorable Matthew J. Perry, Jr. Civility Award
The Civility Award of the RCBA is named after United States District Judge Matthew J. Perry, Jr. It is awarded to the judge and to the lawyer who best exemplify the word “civility.”
Past Recipients
Judges
The Honorable L. Casey Manning, Sr. (2002)
The Honorable J. Bratton Davis (awarded posthumously) (2004)
The Honorable Joseph F. Anderson Jr. (2005)
The Honorable G. Thomas Cooper, Jr. (2006)
The Honorable Marvin “Buddy” F. Kittrell (2008)
The Honorable George C. James, Jr. (2009)
The Honorable Joseph M. Strickland (2010)
The Honorable Costa M. Pleicones (2011)
The Honorable H. Bruce Williams (2012)
The Honorable Margaret B. Seymour (2013)
The Honorable Dorothy Mobley Jones (2014)
The Honorable John E. Waites (2015)
The Honorable Tanya A. Gee (awarded posthumously) (2016)
The Honorable Alison Renee Lee (2017)
The Honorable Clifton Newman (2018)
The Honorable J. Michelle Childs (2019)
The Honorable Mary Geiger Lewis (2020)
The Honorable Shiva V. Hodges (2020)
The Honorable Robert E. Hood (2021)
The Honorable Shirley Canty Robinson (2021)
The Honorable Susan O. Porter (2022)
The Honorable Sherri A. Lydon (2023)
The Honorable Terry L. Wooten (2024)
The Honorable DeAndrea Benjamin (2025)
Attorneys
Danny C. Crowe (2002)
James C. Leventis (2004)
Isadore E. Lourie (awarded posthumously) (2005)
Susan P. “Susi” McWilliams (2008)
Robert F. “Bob” Fuller (2009)
Rebecca “Becky” Laffitte (2010)
D. Cravens Ravenel (2011)
William H. “Bo” Bowman (2012)
Leslie A. “Les” Cotter, Jr. (2013)
Herbert W. Louthian (2014)
Julio E. “Rick” Mendoza, Jr. (2015)
John M. Grantland (2016)
John S. Nichols (2017)
William “Bill” Toal (2018)
Leigh J. Leventis (2019)
Leigh J. Leventis (2019)
Barry B. George (2021)
Robert E. “Bobby” Stepp (2022)
Roy F. Laney (2023)
Donald Gist (2024)
Vance Bettis (2025)