Practice Areas
Background
With extensive federal and state trial experience, Gray Culbreath's practice focuses on complex litigation. He currently serves as President of the South Carolina Defense Trial Attorneys Association and 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 manages an active appellate practice.
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.
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 and Commercial Litigation. 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.
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 on the South Carolina State Museum Commission as well as the Alumni Executive Committee for the Wofford Terrier Club Board of Directors. He is also a member of Columbia's Eastminster Presbyterian Church.
Education
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J.D., University of South Carolina School of Law, 1988
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B.A., Wofford College, 1985 |
Support Staff
Bar Admissions
- South Carolina
- 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
Professional Associations & Memberships
- Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel, Products Liability Section Chair, Judiciary Committee Chair, Class Action & Multi-District Litigation Section Vice Chair and immediate past 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, President- Elect (2010), Treasurer (2009), Secretary (2008), Editor – The Defense Line (2005-2007), Executive Committee (2000-2007)
- Defense Research Institute
- American Board of Trial Advocates
- John Belton O’Neall Inn of Court
- International Society of Primerus Law Firms, Defense Litigation Group – former Chair
Honors & Awards
- Columbia Defendants Lawyer of the Year - Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions, 2012, Best Lawyers'
- 2012 Best Lawyers in America
- Best Lawyers
- South Carolina Super Lawyers
- 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
- Moot Court Bar
- National Moot Court Team
- Blue Key National Honor Fraternity
Articles, Publications & Presentations
- 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
- 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
- Successor Liability: What You Need to Know, 2007 Primerus Client Convocation
- South Carolina Tort Reform, 2006 Federal Judicial CLE, District of South Carolina
- Electronic Discovery Amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, 2006 South Carolina Defense Trial Attorneys’ Association Annual Meeting
- Class Action Fairness Act of 2005, 2006 FDCC Mid-Year and Annual Meeting
- Medical Malpractice Tort Reform, 2005 South Carolina Tort Law Update, South Carolina Bar
- South Carolina Tort Reform, 2005 South Carolina Defense Trial Attorneys’ Association Annual Meeting
- The Class Action Fairness Act of 2005: Jurisdictional and Removal Provisions, Vol. 57, No. 2, Federal of Defense and Corporate Counsel Quarterly, Page 135
- Admissibility of Evidence and Expert Evidence in South Carolina, 2003 National Business Institute
- Ethical Issues Surrounding Current Employees, 2001 Wofford College Continuing Legal Education Program
- Deposing the Juvenile Plaintiff, 1997 DRI Products Liability Seminar
- What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You, Product Liability Newsletter of the International Association of Defense Counsel
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