The South Carolina Bar Association recognized Whitney B. Harrison ’07, of McGowan Hood & Felder LLC, as the 2019 Trial and Appellate Advocacy Award recipient.

The award recognizes members of the Bar who have demonstrated substantial dedication to the furtherance of the art and techniques of trial and appellate advocacy in South Carolina, outstanding and exemplary skill and conduct in their practice of advocacy, and have devoted substantial time and effort to the education and training of lawyers. Harrison is the first woman to receive the award.

“Presbyterian College and (former PC president) Dr. John V. Griffith, along with many of PC’s outstanding faculty, greatly shaped my perspective on advocacy and the ability for each one of us to make a difference— no matter our station in life or profession,” Harrison said.

While practicing law for less than a decade, Harrison has tried several medical malpractice cases to verdict with the partners of McGowan, Hood and Felder, LLC, including obtaining a verdict of $13.75 million. She has been associated by outside counsel to assist with numerous complex motions and trials.

Harrison has served as lead appellate counsel on more than thirty appeals before the South Carolina Court of Appeals and South Carolina Supreme Court. Issues range from constitutional challenges to corporate governance to novel issues.

In nominating her for this award, Harrison’s colleagues shared that her story is like that of the three masons, “Whitney’s passion for the law and her legal work shines through her in every interaction she has—whether she is working long hours on a brief or taking one of her many mentees to coffee. Whitney views her role as an advocate with great reverence and lives each day with one goal in mind—to help build legal cathedrals that will ensure justice for generations.”

After graduating from PC, Harrison went on to earn her law degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 2010.  Before joining McGowan, Hood and Felder, LLC, Harrison clerked for the Honorable Aphrodite K. Konduros, Judge of the South Carolina Court of Appeals, and later as a law clerk for the Honorable Kaye G. Hearn, Justice of the Supreme Court of South Carolina. Harrison has served as adjunct professor at PC, where she taught constitutional law.

Harrison is highly active in her community, serving on the Board of SC Appleseed Legal Justice Center and the SC Bar Foundation and supporting organizations such as MIRCI, who work with our community’s most vulnerable population.