Richardson Plowden Attorneys at Law - C. Jo Anne Wessinger-Hill

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ATTORNEY HIGHLIGHTS

A former intelligence officer with the Central Intelligence Agency, shareholder Eugene H. Matthews is a certified mediator, arbitrator, and specialist in employment and labor law by South Carolina Supreme Court.

Shareholder Steven W. Hamm served as the state consumer advocate and administrator of the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs for more than twelve years, representing the public before the South Carolina General Assembly and state and federal agencies.

Shareholder S. Nelson Weston, Jr., is a certified specialist in debtor/creditor law and bankruptcy law by the South Carolina Supreme Court.

Shareholder Leslie A. Cotter, Jr., is a certified mediator and arbitrator by the South Carolina Supreme Court.

C. Jo Anne Wessinger Hill

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Office
1900 Barnwell Street
Columbia, SC 29201

P.O. Drawer 7788
Columbia, SC 29202

Contact Details
Direct: 803.576.3714
Fax: 803.779.0016
Email: jwessingerhill@RichardsonPlowden.com

Practice Areas
Administrative and Regulatory Law
Elections Law
Insurance Defense
Legislative and Governmental Relations
Workers' Compensation Defense

Education
University of South Carolina (B.S., cum laude, business administration, 1987)
University of South Carolina (USC) School of Law (J.D., 1990)

President's List, Dean's List
USC Faculty/Staff Dependent's Scholarship (1983-1988)
Tau Beta Sigma, Delta Sigma Pi, Gamma Beta Phi, Phi Alpha Delta
USC Marching Band
Student Bar Association

Bar Admissions
1991, South Carolina
1998, U.S. Supreme Court
1999, U.S. District Court, District of South Carolina
1999, U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit

Other Professional

South Carolina Bar
Richland County Bar Association
South Carolina Women Lawyers Association
S.C. Governor David M. Beasley's Ad Hoc Committee on Health Care (1995-1998)
Staff, Legislative Committee to Review the Consumer Finance Industry (1997)
Ad Hoc Plan of Operation Editorial Board for SC Associated Auto Insurers Plan (1997)
USC Semester Program Internship Candidate Review Board (1996-1997)
Assistant Legal Counsel to Governor Carroll A. Campbell and Deputy Division Director for the Division of Ombudsmen and Citizen Services (1994-1995)
Staff Attorney, S.C. House of Representatives Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee (1991-1994)

C. Jo Anne Wessinger Hill is a shareholder of Richardson Plowden in the Columbia office. She focuses her practice on administrative and regulatory law, elections law, insurance defense, legislative and governmental relations, workers' compensation defense and general litigation.

Mrs. Wessinger Hill's experience includes:

Served as the first woman Legal Counsel and Director of Research for the South Carolina House of Representatives Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee from 1995 to 1997.
Successfully argued before the South Carolina Supreme Court in Wigfall vs. Tideland Utilities, 354 S.C. 100, 580 S.E.2d 100 (2003) when defending the appeal by the claimant who was seeking to modify current law so as to allow for an award of permanent and total disability based upon a single member injury in the workers' compensation system.
Served as a registered lobbyist for Richardson Plowden's various clients since January 2000.

Mrs. Wessinger Hill graduated cum laude from the University of South Carolina (USC) in 1987. As an undergraduate, she was on the President's List, as well as a member of Tau Beta Sigma and the USC Marching Band. She earned her juris doctor from the USC School of Law in 1990. She was a member of the Student Bar Association and Phi Alpha Delta.

Following graduation, Mrs. Wessinger Hill was appointed in January 1991 as Staff Attorney for the S.C. House of Representatives Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee by Speaker Robert J. Sheheen and then Committee Chairman State Representative (now State Senator) Thomas C. Alexander, where she served continuously until 1994 when appointed as Assistant Legal Counsel to Governor Carroll A. Campbell and Deputy Division Director for the Division of Ombudsmen and Citizen Services.

Following her service with the Executive Branch of State Government in the Office of the Governor, Speaker David H. Wilkins and Committee Chairman Harry F. Cato appointed her in 1995 to serve as Legal Counsel and Director of Research for the S.C. House of Representatives Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee; thus, making her the first woman attorney to serve in this senior position.

During her service with the House of Representatives, Mrs. Wessinger Hill worked on major legislative issues which reformed the automobile insurance system, workers' compensation system, small group employers health insurance, telecommunications, consumer finance laws and many other issues. In 1998, Mrs. Wessinger Hill joined Richardson Plowden and became a shareholder in 2003.

Mrs. Wessinger Hill is an active member of Rotary International-Five Points Chapter and the women's civic and service club, Zonta International-Columbia Chapter. In addition to her involvement in the community, she enjoys speaking, reading, watercolor painting, sporting clays, boating and golf.