Bannister, Wyatt & Stalvey, LLC attorneys honored as Legal Elite of the Upstate 2020

Seven partners of Bannister, Wyatt & Stalvey, LLC, along with two firm associates, have been named Greenville Business Magazine’s Legal Elite of the Upstate for the sixth consecutive year. The Legal Elite is made up of attorneys in the Upstate who are nominated by their peers as “the best and most well-respected in their field.”

Bannister, Wyatt & Stalvey, LLC’s founding partners are recognized as the Upstate’s Legal Elite for the following: Oscar (Bill) Bannister, Jr. for Family Law and Business Litigation, and John Wyatt for Residential and Commercial Real Estate Law.

Oscar W. Bannister, Jr. (Bill) founded Bannister, Wyatt & Stalvey along with John F. Wyatt in 2000. Born in Union, S.C., Mr. Bannister is a member of the Greenville County and Federal Bar Associations, the South Carolina Bar, the South Carolina Trial Lawyers Association, the South Carolina Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. He is also LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rated.

A founding partner of Bannister, Wyatt & Stalvey, John F. Wyatt has practiced law at Bannister, Wyatt & Stalvey since its inception. He is a member of the Greenville County Bar Association (Member, Real Estate Section), the South Carolina Bar (Chairman, Real Estate Section, 1989-1990; Member, Real Estate Section Council) and the South Carolina Bankruptcy Law Association (Board of Directors, 1991-1993). He is also LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rated.

The firm’s managing partners are recognized for the following: Jim Bannister for Criminal Law and Business Litigation, and Alex Stalvey for Personal Injury, Education, and Criminal Law. The partners are recognized for the following practice areas: Bruce Bannister for Criminal, Family, Government, Energy and Utilities, and Business Litigation, Luke Burke for Family, Business Litigation, and Energy and Utilities Law, and Jack McDonald for Residential and Commercial Real Estate Law. Firm associates are honored for their work in the following: Marcelo Torricos III for Criminal Law, and Elizabeth McCool for Family Law.

Jim Bannister, managing partner, has been honored among Greenville’s Legal Elite for criminal defense each year the award has been offered since its inception. He has been honored as a S.C. Super Lawyer for ten consecutive years and The Best Lawyers in America every year since 2008 for Criminal Defense and DUI Defense, with a “Lawyer of the Year” award in 2019. He has also been named among the S.C. nominees for Top 100 Trial Lawyers by The National Trial Lawyers. In 2016, he became one of only three members of the South Carolina Bar to be named as a fellow to the American Board of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Managing partner Alex Stalvey is a former prosecutor, having served as an Assistant Solicitor in Spartanburg and Greenville counties. He currently handles complex criminal and civil litigation for the firm and has represented clients in a range of complex criminal matters, including murder, criminal sexual conduct, and Title IX sexual misconduct cases on university campuses. In 2014, he was certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy (NBTA) for criminal trial advocacy and was recertified in 2019. Stalvey is AV-Peer Rated by Martindale-Nolo. Stalvey was also recognized as Legal Elite of the Upstate in 2018 and 2019.

Partner Bruce Bannister’s legal practice focuses on family law, eminent domain, and civil litigation. He has been recognized amongst 2019’s Best Lawyers in America. In addition to his private practice, Bannister has served as the SC House District 24 Representative since 2005. His other accolades include Leadership Greenville Class XXVI graduate, Liberty Fellowship Class of 2014 graduate, board member of the Children’s Museum of the Upstate and the Andrews Society of Greenville, and recipient of the 2011 Children’s Hospital Legislative Advocacy Award. He has been named among the Legal Elite of the Upstate in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019.

Partner Luke Burke’s practice areas include Civil Litigation, with a primary focus on Business Litigation, Eminent Domain / Right-of-Way Acquisition, Family Law, and Energy and Utilities Law. In 2011, Burke graduated with honors from the University of South Carolina School of Law and became a member of the South Carolina Bar. Burke was also recognized among the Legal Elite of the Upstate in 2019 in the field of Energy/Utilities Law. He received top vote for energy/utilities in 2019.

Partner Jack McDonald’s practice is primarily focused on real estate transactions, both residential and commercial. He also handles foreclosures, collections, and probate and estate matters. Upon graduation from the University of South Carolina law school, McDonald served as a law clerk for the Honorable Wyatt T. Saunders, Jr., Judge for the Eighth Judicial Circuit. He is a member of the South Carolina Bar and the Greenville County Bar Association and is a licensed title agent for Investors Title Insurance Company. He has previously been recognized by Best Lawyers in America for real estate law and named Legal Elite of the Upstate for 4 consecutive years.

Marcelo Torricos III’s practice is focused on criminal defense as well as family/domestic law. His decision to focus on criminal and civil law was greatly influenced through his clerkship for the Honorable Robin B. Stilwell, Circuit Court Judge for the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit. Torricos was admitted to the South Carolina Bar in November 2013. During law school, he clerked for the United States District Attorney’s Office in Greenville, SC and for the Honorable J. Michelle Childs of the Federal District Court in Greenville, S.C. He has been previously recognized among Greenville Business Magazine’s Legal Elite of the Upstate for 3 years in a row.

Elizabeth McCool brings experience to the firm in both family and real estate law, but focuses primarily on family law. McCool handles all types of domestic actions ranging from divorce, custody, visitation, termination of parental rights, step-parent adoptions, and grandparent visitation. She graduated magna cum laude from the University of South Carolina Honors College and continued her education receiving an MBA from Gardner Webb University and her law degree from the University of South Carolina. She is a member of the South Carolina Bar and the Greenville County Bar Association, and has been recognized among the Legal Elite of the Upstate for 3 consecutive years.

Since 2012, Greenville Business Magazine has honored the area’s most respected attorneys through publishing the Legal Elite. Greenville Business Magazine sends its annual survey to more than 800 lawyers across Greater Greenville. Each lawyer nominates who he or she feels are the region’s best and most well-respected attorneys in 20 practice areas.

Respondents are allowed to nominate lawyers in their firms, but for each in-firm lawyer nominated, the nominator is required to nominate an out-of-firm lawyer, though not necessarily in the same practice area. Legal Elite is the only award program in the region that gives every active attorney the opportunity to participate.

About Bannister, Wyatt & Stalvey, LLC

Since 1976, the award-winning attorneys of Bannister, Wyatt & Stalvey, LLC, have provided skilled, professional and tailored legal advice in the areas of criminal law, family law and real estate law in Greenville, S.C. Learn more at www.bannisterandwyatt.com.