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In the 1970's, the Bar had grown in size and organized into an Executive Committee to promote the practice of law in Greenville County. In the 1980's, Connie Regan was hired as the first executive secretary. Connie served for 11 years. In the early 1990's, the Bar Association organized as a 501c6 corporation and hired its second executive secretary, Nancy Griffeth, to handle the day-to-day functions of the association. In 2005, the bar hired its current Executive Coordinator, Melinda Davidson.  The Bar elects four officers each year: President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer. These attorneys and numerous committee chairs volunteer their time to this organization.

The GCBA publishes a newsletter, the G-Bar News.  GCBA also sponsors Law Week in May of each year with many opportunities for community service and fellowship to improve the public's perception of lawyers.  GCBA organizes at least one continuing legal education seminar each year in February to provide lawyers in the upstate with an opportunity to stay up to date on current issues in the law and to earn CLE credits. The GCBA sponsors four to five social events each year usually including a Family Night at the Zoo, a Judges' Reception, and a Christmas Party to provide a purely social setting for lawyers to get better acquainted outside the courtroom. The GCBA also sponsors four or five luncheons during the year with speakers on current issues.

Membership dues are $95. All socials and programs are paid for by each member attending to cover costs but are often heavily subsidized.   The GCBA currently has more than 1300 members. Membership is optional and open to attorneys who are licensed to practice law in South Carolina or those who are licensed in other states but practice in Greenville County.

In 2015, the Greenville County Bar Association commissioned Dr. Judith Bainbridge to write a book on the history of Greenville's legal community.  More information about this book can be found HERE.

TOP TEN BENEFITS OF BECOMING A MEMBER OF THE GCBA:

The Tommy Thomason Award

The Tommy Thomason Award was established by the Greenville County Bar Association in 1993 in memory of Greenville attorney Tommy Thomason. The award is given to honor a Greenville lawyer whom best exemplifies the wonderful qualities Tommy embodied:

• compassionate and sensitive to all people regardless of their station in life;

• friendly, unassuming, humble with a warm, genuine and abiding faith in all people;

• strong personal values, optimism and faith;

• positive diplomacy that works to minimize conflict and resolve disputes in the least hostile manner;

• unshakable integrity, coupled with an instinct for fairness;

• dedicated to community interest, public service and improvement of the community;

• loves the practice of law and pursues the practice as a service to people;

• dedicated to the improvement of the legal system and justice for all people;

• widely respected and admired by peers for personal and professional achievement.

Tommy Embodied

B.O. “Tommy Thomason” (1926-1993) was a beloved attorney who practiced in Greenville for over 40 years. A graduate of Furman University and the University of Virginia School of Law, Mr. Thomason joined the Greenville firm of Love, Thornton, Arnold in 1952. “He served in the state legislature, was appointed a Special Circuit judge and was a longtime Thirteenth Circuit solicitor. As legal counselor to Furman University starting in 1976, he worked tirelessly for the university, especially during its struggle for independence from the South Carolina Baptist Convention in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Two governors—Dick Riley and Carroll Campbell—awarded him the Order of the Palmetto. It was also said that whenever anything good was done in Greenville, Tommy Thomason was involved. His friend and colleague Dick Riley referred to his character as almost saintly.” (p. 132).

Selection

The Selection Committee is chaired this year by our immediate past president of the Greenville County Bar. The Past President is joined on the committee by the three most recent recipients of the award and three attorneys appointed by the Greenville County Bar Association. There is no mandatory requirement that a recipient be selected each year.

Recipients

The following attorneys have been recipients of the Tommy Thomason Award:

• Theron G. Cochran - 2023

• Frank L. Eppes - 2020

• Stuart Mauney - 2019

• Mason A. "Andy" Goldsmith - 2017

• Jo Watson Hackl - 2016

• Douglas F. Patrick - 2015

• Amos A. Workman - 2014

• Kenneth C. Porter - 2013

• Arthur L. Howson, Jr. - 2012

• James "Chip" Price III - 2011

• Anne S. Ellefson - 2010

• Thomas W. Traxler - 2009

• Jack Griffeth - 2008

• Dewey Oxner - 2007

• Tom Bruce - 2006

• Preston Reid - 2005

• Stephen J. Henry - 2004

• Knox L. Haynsworth, Jr. - 2003

• James C. Parham, Jr.

• David Quattlebaum III

• David Merline

• Merl Code

• John Johnston

• David Freeman

• Leo Hill

The Paul Wickensimer Award

The Billy Wilkins Award

2024 Officers

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