Columbia attorney receives Employment Law award
April 30, 2012
COLUMBIA, SC – April 30, 2012 – The S.C. Bar Employment and Labor LawSection Council announces that Herbert “Herb” W. Louthian has beennamed the Distinguished Lawyer of 2012. Louthian will be recognized atthe Section’s mid-year meeting on Friday, May 18, at the S.C. BarConference Center in Columbia.
This award is presentedto an attorney nominated and selected by his or her professional peersfor commendable service to employment and labor law practice in SouthCarolina.
Louthian, who has practiced law in SouthCarolina since 1959, owns Louthian Law Firm in Columbia. He has handledmany significant handbook and policy manual cases for plaintiffs,beginning in 1987 with the case of Kathy Small v. Springs Industries,Inc. when South Carolina recognized, for the first time, that anemployee handbook, bulletin and oral assurances could constitute anemployment contract. Louthian has also tried numerous statewhistle-blower cases and discrimination cases resulting in successfulplaintiffs’ verdicts.
As a member of the State Board ofDirectors of Common Cause of South Carolina, Louthian reviews impendinglegislative and congressional redistricting issues and works withColumbia Mayor Steve Benjamin toward the goal of establishing the firstmunicipal ethics commission in South Carolina. In addition, he serves asan adjunct professor at the USC School of Law, teaching trial advocacyto second and third-year students to help prepare them as they entertheir careers as trial lawyers.
Kristine L. Cato ofRogers Townsend & Thomas, PC nominated Louthian for this award. “Heis the epitome of true civility in the profession and an unbelievabletrial lawyer,” said Cato. “He has given back so much to the communityand profession, and his creativity and ingenuity were solely responsiblefor the creation of a brand new cause of action and a major body ofemployment contact law in the state.”
For more information on the Employment and Labor Law Section, visit www.scbar.org/sections/EmploymentandLaborLawSection.aspx.
About the South Carolina Bar
The South Carolina Bar, which has a membership of more than 14,000lawyers, is dedicated to advancing justice, professionalism andunderstanding of the law.
