J. Clayton Mitchell

Biography

Clayton Mitchell is a litigation attorney in the firm’s Columbia, South Carolina, office. His practice focuses on business and commercial litigation, securities litigation and FINRA arbitration, banking and financial services, and appellate law. He represents institutional and middle-market clients, including financial institutions and insurers, as well as businesses and individuals in complex civil litigation, government investigations, and arbitration. Clay regularly handles dispositive motions, injunction/TRO practice, depositions, mediations, evidentiary hearings, and trials in state and federal courts. Clay handles a variety of legal matters, including:

• Business and contractual disputes involving corporate and government interests, including claims for breach of contract, fiduciary duty, fraud/misrepresentation, and related business torts.
• Banks in lender liability suits and related payment-systems disputes, including NACHA/ACH warranty and indemnity claims and wire/transfer fraud response matters.
• Investigations conducted by the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office and the U.S. Department of Justice.
• Shareholder disputes.
• Probate litigation involving significant estates.

Before entering private practice, Clay served as an Assistant Attorney General at the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office, where he was the lead securities fraud and white-collar prosecutor. During his time at the Attorney General’s Office, Clay handled a wide range of investigations and prosecutions involving complex financial fraud, public corruption, healthcare fraud, and insurance fraud.

Clay is also an accomplished appellate advocate, having represented the State before the South Carolina appellate courts where he briefed and argued numerous cases before the Supreme Court of South Carolina and Court of Appeals.

Clay received his undergraduate degree from the University of South Carolina Darla Moore School of Business, where he majored in finance and real estate, and he was also a member of the baseball team. Clay received his juris doctor from the Charleston School of Law.

Education

Associations & Professional Memberships

• Judicial Qualifications Committee, Member
• South Carolina Bar Young Lawyers Division (YLD), Member
• Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee, Member
• University of South Carolina  School of Law, Center of Professionalism, 3L Mentor

Community Involvement

• Eastminster Presbyterian Church, Member
• South Carolina Bar Young Lawyers Division, iCivics Program