Craig E. Burgess [ special counsel]
In addition to an encyclopedic knowledge of the movies of Mel Brooks, Craig Burgess has a more practical profession: he’s an accomplished attorney who has tried over 40 cases to verdict with an enviable record of success. Over a career that spans 17 years in both private practice and as in-house corporate counsel, Mr. Burgess has handled large, complex litigation matters, including class actions, lender liability, telecommunications litigation, personal injury, wrongful death, premises liability and, most recently, legal malpractice.
Mr. Burgess spent the first 11 years of his career at the law firm of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, LLC, where he became a partner. He left Nelson Mullins to join Bell South Corporation (now AT&T) as Senior Litigation Counsel. After four years at AT&T, Mr. Burgess re-entered the world of private law practice by becoming Special Counsel to Barnwell Whaley Patterson & Helms.
During his tenure at BellSouth, he served as the lead in-house counsel in the resolution of multi-million dollar litigation matters involving contract disputes with competing carriers, coordinated the litigation arising out of the publication of BellSouth’s phone directory in a six-state region, investigated and recommended prosecution of employees accused of fraud and counseled various corporate departments on contract matters, litigation avoidance and electronic discovery.
Mr. Burgess is the author of several articles and professional presentations, including "Proving Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder," The Practical Litigator, May 1988; "Proving Complex Damages: Effective Use of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in Proving the Existence of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder," ABA/TIPS Seminar, August 1996; and "Analyzing Social Science Testimony Through Daubert and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders," Defense Research Institute Young Lawyers Seminar, June 1988.
Mr. Burgess received his Juris Doctorate from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1992. During law school, he was a National Member of the Order of Barristers, and in that capacity, he served as Captain of the school's American Bar Association Moot Court Team, which earned First Place and "Best Brief" honors in the Association's Southeastern Regional Moot Court Competition. During his third year, Mr. Burgess was elected Chairman of the law school's Honor Council and was chosen by his classmates to receive the Claude N. Sapp Award for "possessing the best combination of scholarship, leadership and industry." Mr. Burgess earned a B.A. in English from The Citadel in 1987. As a member of The Citadel's varsity basketball team, Mr. Burgess earned All Conference and All Tournament honors during his senior year.
Contact Craig Burgess
Contact Deborah Wagner, legal secretary to Mr. Burgess
