Practice Areas
Background
With extensive federal and state trial experience, Gray Culbreath's practice focuses on complex litigation. A Past President of the South Carolina Defense Trial Attorneys Association, Gray regularly defends clients across a wide range of practice areas, including Product Liability, Drug and Medical Device, Toxic and Mass Torts, Transportation, Business and Commercial Litigation, Professional Negligence, and Class Actions. He also testifies as an expert witness in class action and legal malpractice litigation.
Prior to entering private practice, Gray served as a Captain in the United States Army, Judge Advocate Generals Corps. From 1988 until 1992, he served as a trial defense counsel, trying over 50 cases to verdict, representing soldiers in courts martial across the southeast.
Gray is recognized as a South Carolina Super Lawyer for Product Liability and Personal Injury Defense, and is listed in the Best Lawyers of America for Product Liability, Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation, and Mass Torts and Class Actions. In 2012, he was recognized as the Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions - Defendant Lawyer of the Year for Columbia, South Carolina. He has also been the recipient of the South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Leadership in Law Award as well as the Gold Compleat Lawyer Award from the University of South Carolina School of Law and the Richland County Bar's Civic Star Award.
Gray is a member of American Board of Trial Advocates, Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel, the International Association of Defense Counsel, and Lawyers for Civil Justice.
Aside from professional organizations, Gray is also active in the community. He serves as the Chairman of the South Carolina State Museum Commission since his appointment by the Governor of South Carolina in 2001. He also serves on the board of the South Carolina State Museum Foundation as well as the Hammond School Skyhawk Club. Previously Gray has served on the board of the Wofford College Terrier Club and is currently a member of the Wofford College Alumni Executive Council. He and his family attend First Presbyterian Church.
Honors & Awards
- Columbia Defendants Lawyer of the Year - Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions, 2012, Best Lawyers'
- 2012 Best Lawyers in America
- Best Lawyers, 2008-Present
- South Carolina Super Lawyers, 2008-Present
- Greater Columbia Business Monthly’s 2010 Legal Elite
- 2009 Leadership in Law Award – South Carolina Lawyers Weekly
- 2009 Gold Compleat Lawyer Award - University of South Carolina School of Law Alumni Association
- 2009 Richland County Bar Association Civic Star Award
- Moot Court Bar
- National Moot Court Team
- Blue Key National Honor Fraternity
Education
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J.D., University of South Carolina School of Law, 1988
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B.A., Wofford College, 1985
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Current News
Support Staff
Articles, Publications & Presentations
- Defendant Class Actions, FDCC Winter Meeting, February 2011
- ABOTA Foundation Masters in Trial Program - Presenter, February 4, 2011, The University of South Carolina School of Law, Columbia, SC
- Ethical Issues Encountered in Multiple Representation Arrangements, FDCC Quarterly, Vol. 60, No. 3 - Spring 2010 at 295
- FDCC Trial Masters, Cross Examination, March 2010, Orlando, FL
- Management of Catastrophic Industrial or Construction Disasters: From Prevention to Preservation, FDCC Quarterly Vol.61.1 - Fall 2010 at 38
- South Carolina Civil Justice Reform - An Overview of Where We Have Been, Where We Are, and Where We Are Going, ACC Inaugural CLE Program, March 19, 2010, Columbia, SC
- Traps and Pitfalls Facing In-House Counsel, FDCC 2009 Corporate Counsel Symposium Moderator, September 2009, Dallas, TX
- Defending the Truck Driver Deposition, FDCC Annual Meeting, July 2009
- Ethical Issues Encountered in Multi-Claimant Litigation, Presentation with Walter W. Dukes, FDCC, July 2009, Philadelphia, PA
- Expert Witnesses, Primerus Convocation, April 2009, Tuscon, AZ
- Hellhole Jurisdictions, Primerus Transportation Conference, January, 2009, Dallas, TX
- Finders & Keepers: How to Attract and Retain Top Level Associates, FDCC Annual Meeting, July 2008, Banff, Canada
- Class Actions: No Injury Classes, Wage & Hour Classes, and Other Hot Issues, FDCC Annual Meeting, July 2008, Banff, Canada
- What is the New Business Court, and Why Would You Want Your Case in the Business Court?, South Carolina Defense Trial Attorneys Association and Claims Management Association of South Carolina Joint Meeting, July, 2008, Asheville, NC
- Joint Defense Agreements, South Carolina Lawyer, May 2008, at 36
- Successor Liability, 2007 International Association of Defense Counsel Annual Meeting
Professional Associations & Memberships
- Council for Litigation Management
- Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel, Products Liability Section Chair, Judiciary Committee Chair, Class Action & Multi-District Litigation Chair.
- International Association of Defense Counsel, Defense Counsel Journal – Board of Editors, Products Liability Journal Editor
- Lawyers for Civil Justice
- Litigation Counsel of America
- South Carolina Defense Trial Attorneys’ Association, President (2010-2011), President- Elect (2010), Treasurer (2009), Secretary (2008), Editor – The Defense Line (2005-2007), Executive Committee (2000-2007)
- Defense Research Institute, Member Center for Public Policy
- American Board of Trial Advocates
- John Belton O’Neall Inn of Court
- International Society of Primerus Law Firms, Defense Litigation Group – former Chair
Community Service
- South Carolina Museum Commission, Chairman
- South Carolina State Museum Foundation, Board Member
- Hammond School Skyhawk Club, Board Member
- Wofford College Terrier Club, Past Board Member
- Wofford College Alumni Executive Council
Bar Admissions
- South Carolina, 1988
- U.S. District Court, District of South Carolina
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit
- U.S. Supreme Court
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