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East Cooper Community Outreach Awards Cooke the Stone Soup Award

M. Dawes Cooke, Jr., a Barnwell Whaley attorney at law

October 15, 2008

Charleston, S.C. – M. Dawes Cooke, Jr., of Barnwell Whaley Patterson & Helms, LLC, a Charleston-based law firm established in 1938, has been awarded the Stone Soup Award by East Cooper Community Outreach (ECCO). ECCO Board President Dr. Vic Del Bene presented Cooke with the award at the organization’s annual Stone Soup Supper in September.

Cooke, who has served on the board of the ECCO as vice president-legal since its inception in 1990, is an accomplished civil litigation lawyer. A fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers, Cooke has an AV Martindale-Hubbell rating and is listed in The Best Lawyers in America. He is chairman of South Carolina’s Commission on Judicial Independence and Impartiality and is a member of the Defense Research Institute, the Charleston County Public Defender Board of Directors and the International Association of Defense Council (IADC).

“Dawes had generously given of his time, serving continuously on the board since the beginning, his talent and legal expertise, and his treasure – but also he has been the persistent STONE enticing other persons and organizations to give what they had to enrich the soup in ECCO’s pot,” said Del Bene.

Cooke also serves as president of the East Cooper Breakfast Rotary Club and as vice chairman of the Rotary District 7770 Gift of Life Board of Directors. Cooke earned his J.D. from the University of South Carolina (cum laude), where he served as clerk of court for the Society of Wig and Robe and as symposium editor for the University of South Carolina Law Review. In 1993, he received an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from The Citadel.

East Cooper Community Outreach is a community-based non-profit organization dedicated to helping those who live in situational and generational poverty. Services include free clothing, food, emergency financial assistance, furniture and housewares, counseling and educational programs. The organization also has an expansive health care program including free dental and medical clinics and a drug assistance program.

Established in Charleston in 1938, Barnwell Whaley Patterson & Helms, LLC, serves and counsels businesses and professionals in the state of South Carolina and beyond. Widely respected for their work in complex litigation matters, the firm’s 16 members and associates focus on the areas of intellectual property, civil litigation defense, professional malpractice defense, construction law, business law and products liability defense.

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Firm backgrounder

Established in Charleston in 1938, Barnwell Whaley Patterson & Helms, LLC, serves and counsels businesses and professionals throughout South Carolina and beyond.

With over seven decades in business under the same banner, the firm is highly respected for its work in complex civil litigation in state and federal courts at both trial and appellate levels.

The firm’s 15 members and associates focus on intellectual property protection, civil litigation defense, professional malpractice defense, construction law, business law and products liability defense.

Barnwell Whaley is a full-service firm of seasoned lawyers supported by an experienced staff of paralegals, secretaries, medical and science professionals, engineers, chemists, law clerks, accounting and administrative personnel totaling 21 staff members. Though the firm may be considered “boutique” in size, the depth and diversity of its professional team allows it to handle complex civil litigation without the encumbrances and overhead of larger firms.

The firm serves and counsels businesses in Charleston, the Carolinas and throughout the country, and is engaged as counsel in several international matters involving intellectual property.

Sample clients include Sawgrass Technology, Maybank Industries Group, The Medical University of South Carolina, the S.C. State Ports Authority, The Citadel (including its defense in the landmark case attempting to admit women to the institution in 1995), Traveler’s Insurance, CNA Insurance, and Lloyds of London, among others.

One of the central practice areas for Barnwell Whaley is its insurance defense practice, which represents numerous insurance carriers and self-insured businesses in the state. The firm is frequently retained to defend insured individuals and businesses who have been sued in various types of negligence actions, including professional liability and malpractice, products liability, construction defects, vehicular accidents, premises liability and other insured risks.

The common thread that connects all of Barnwell Whaley’s practice areas is complexity. Barnwell Whaley’ attorneys have been described by their peers as "lawyers' lawyers." The firm is frequently called by other attorneys to help at trial and is often selected to handle the most difficult cases in a company’s portfolio.

Barnwell Whaley is dedicated to obtaining the best possible outcome for its clients. Often that means carefully and thoroughly preparing a case for trial and then trying the case to a decision. However, there are times when a thoughtfully negotiated settlement is the best interest of the client both emotionally and economically. In any case, the firm always puts the needs and best interests of its clients first.

Barnwell Whaley is located on Daniel Island in Charleston, S.C.

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