Leslie Cotter

Leslie A. Cotter, Jr., is a shareholder of Richardson Plowden in the Columbia office. He focuses his practice on professional (legal, accounting, medical) malpractice defense, insurance defense litigation, mediation/arbitration, employment and civil rights litigation, products liability and personal injury defense, and governmental liability defense.

Mr. Cotter's experience includes:

• Trying jury and non-jury cases in each division of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina and in state court proceedings throughout South Carolina. 
• Representing the State of South Carolina as outside counsel in a national arbitration proceeding before a panel of three retired federal judges. 
• Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) practice, including serving as mediator and as arbitrator in state and federal court complex litigation matters. Mr. Cotter has been certified as a mediator by the S.C. Supreme Court and the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina since 1999. He has been certified as an arbitrator by the S.C. Supreme Court since 2001. He mediates and arbitrates a variety of civil cases and disputes statewide.
• Providing testimony before the South Carolina Legislature regarding the South Carolina Tort Claims Act.

Before joining Richardson Plowden, Mr. Cotter was a judicial law clerk for South Carolina Circuit Judge Rodney A. Peeples and United States District Court Judge Clyde H. Hamilton, who was a Senior United States Circuit Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Scholarly Lectures and Speaking Engagements

• Guest Lecturer, “Law Practice Workshop,” Class for Third-Year Law Students, University of South Carolina School of Law (2013-2022) 

Pro Bono/Community Involvement

• Active member, St. John's Episcopal Church, served on the vestry (2007-2010) 
• Board of Managers of South Carolina Historical Society
• Past board member, Hammond School 
• Past board member, Palmetto Baseball League
• Active member of several conservation organizations, including the Congaree Land Trust, SC Coastal Conservation League, Gills Creek Watershed Association, and Coastal Conservation Association
• Past coach, numerous children's AAU baseball and basketball teams 
• Committee member, the Central Carolina Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation 
• Past Committee Member, Midlands Branch of Quality Deer Management Association

Certifications

• Certified Circuit Court Mediator by the S.C. Supreme Court and U.S. District Court since 1999
• Certified Arbitrator by the S.C. Supreme Court since 1999