Paul Porter is certified by the South Carolina Supreme Court as a Specialist in Employment and Labor Law. His practice areas include employment law, business litigation, sexual harassment, defamation law, and appeals.

Paul strives to be honest and direct in advising his clients because candid advice and direction is what he would want as a client.

Paul grew up working class. Growing up, he worked in several industries including construction, sales, and retail. He understands the struggles and pitfalls faced by the average worker and it shapes the way he represents his clients.

Originally from Greenville, South Carolina, Paul graduated from Presbyterian College in three years
with two degrees (Spanish and Political Science) with honors in 2009. At Presbyterian College, Paul was a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity, Pi Sigma Alpha Honors Fraternity, and student government. He next graduated the University of South Carolina School of Law in 2012 where he was a recipient of the William L. Bethea Jr. Scholarship and was a member of the Moot Court Bar.

Paul began working for the firm’s predecessor firm, J. Lewis Cromer & Associates, as a law clerk in
June 2011. Lewis Cromer, Jay Babb, Ryan Hicks, and Paul Porter formed Cromer Babb Porter &
Hicks, LLC in January 2017.

Paul has successfully argued appeals before the South Carolina Supreme Court, South Carolina
Court of Appeals, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Richmond,
Virginia.

His employment law practice involves the use of several legal claims and theories including
discrimination (race, sex, disability, religion etc.), harassment, retaliation, wrongful discharge, Family
Medical Leave, wage claims, and civil torts to secure positive results for his clients. Paul represents
both public and private employees, and his representation regularly includes state and local
government employees in their pre-suit grievance processes and later in litigation against their public
employers. Paul also has a sizable Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and South
Carolina Human Affairs Commission (SCHAC) practice, has represented federal employees in equal
employment opportunity matters, and has brought claims before administrative agencies such as the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, National Labor Relations Board, Office of Occupational Safety
and Health, and the Department of Labor. Paul also represents certified teachers in suspension and
termination proceedings.

In addition to his litigation practice, Paul also has substantial trial experience. Although civil jury trials are becoming less frequent nationally and in South Carolina, Paul has brought cases to trial several times across the state and has tried multiple employment cases to a verdict. Paul has secured a multi-million-dollar verdict for a client in an employment law case and multiple other money verdicts for his clients at trial.*

Paul has been approached to work as co-counsel to high-profile attorneys from around the country, and his cases have received news attention throughout South Carolina and across the nation.

Keep up with articles about Paul’s work at the CBPH Facebook Page.

Paul lives in the Earlewood Neighborhood of Columbia with his wife Ashley Dickinson Porter and
their dog Snoopy.

*Every case is different, and no result can be guaranteed.

• South Carolina State Courts
• United States District Court for the District of South Carolina
• United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit

Memberships

• American Bar Association
• South Carolina Bar Association
• Richland County Bar Association
• South Carolina Association for Justice (Chairman – Employment Law Section/Member Board of
  Governors) (2019 to Present)
• South Carolina Bar – Employment and Labor Law Section

Awards

• Specialty Designation – Certified Specialist in Employment and Labor Law – Supreme Court of South Carolina Committee on Continuing Legal Education and Specialization (2019)

• Legal Elite of the Upstate (Labor and Employment Law) Greenville Business Magazine (2021, 2020)

• Legal Elite of the Upstate (Business Litigation) – Greenville Business Magazine (2021, 2020)

• Legal Elite of the Midlands (Business Litigation) – Columbia Business Monthly (2020)

• The Young Lawyer Award – South Carolina Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates (2017)

• Legal Elite of the Midlands (Labor and Employment Law) – Columbia Business Monthly (2017, 2016, 2015)

• “Preparing for Trial on a Dime” – South Carolina Young Lawyer (June 2016) Author.

• Presenter – “Two Tickets to Paradis – Civil Conspiracy in South Carolina” SC Bar Convention (January 2022)

• Presenter – “2020 South Carolina Employment Law Update” 36th Annual NC/SC Employment and Labor Law Conference (October 2020)  

• Presenter – “Fired over Facebook – Limitations on and Protection of Free Speech Rights at Work.” SC Bar CLE (August 2020) 

• Presenter – “Employment Litigation Involving Government Employees” SC Bar CLE – Navigating the Stormy Seas: Governmental Liability Litigation (February 2020)

• Presenter – “How to sue the government and win! Or at least not lose – Sovereign Immunity and Employment Law” SCAJ Annual Convention (August 2019)