Rogers Townsend is delighted to announce that 11 attorneys have been recognized by Columbia Business Monthly Magazine as 2026 Legal Elite.

Joshua A. Bennett | Civil Litigation and Construction| Josh focuses his practice on complex litigation and insurance defense matters, with an emphasis on construction, environmental, products liability, toxic tort/personal injury, commercial explosives, professional negligence, and other related areas

Diana Coada | Community Association (HOA)| Diana focuses her practice on construction, environmental, products, and professional liability claims, contractual, equitable, and tort claims, and community associations, representing planned communities in both South Carolina and North Carolina.

Catherine Leatherwood | Construction | Catherine focuses her practice in the areas of civil litigation, namely products liability, construction defect litigation, and general insurance defense.

Stuart Lee | Commercial Real Estate | Stuart focuses his practice on a wide variety of commercial and industrial transactions, representing commercial lenders as lender’s counsel in complex commercial and industrial finance transactions, workouts, and related compliance matters.

Elizabeth Mason | Medical Malpractice-Defendant | Elizabeth focuses her practice on medical malpractice defense and other litigated matters, defending physicians, hospitals, and other health professionals across South Carolina in cases of alleged negligence, wrongful death, medication errors, and a variety of other malpractice claims.

T. McRoy Shelley III | Business Litigation | Roy focuses his practice on litigation involving construction, products liability (most frequently defending claims related to construction materials), commercial claims, trucking accidents, personal injury, property and casualty, environmental damage, insurance coverage, and criminal law.

Chilton Simmons | Medical Malpractice-Defendant | Chilton focuses her practice on medical malpractice defense, She defends physicians, hospitals, and other health professionals across South Carolina in cases of alleged negligence, wrongful death, medication errors, and a variety of other malpractice claims. She also represents physicians and other medical professionals before the South Carolina Board of Medicine.

Joseph Tierney | Medical Malpractice-Defendant | Joe focuses his practice on medical malpractice, and handles professional liability, premises liability, regulatory, compliance, insurance defense, premises liability and other litigated matters for physicians, hospitals, nurses, dental professionals, veterinarians, pharmacists, EMT(s), managed care organizations and long-term care facilities (and other corporate entities and health care providers).

Christine Toporek | Medical Malpractice-Defendant | Christine focuses her practice on represents physicians, dentist, nurses, pharmacists, veterinarians, hospitals, managed care organizations, and other health care providers in professional liability and regulatory matters. She also handles premises liability and general insurance defense for other corporate entities.

Robert Wood | Appellate | Bob focuses his practice in civil litigation, with particular emphasis in commercial litigation, business torts,  real estate litigation, insurance litigation, and appeals.

Brian Yoho | Foreclosure | Brian focuses his practice on representing servicers and lenders on matters of consumer and commercial debt recovery and creditors’ rights. He also handles matters involving real estate, to include title insurance claims and title resolution.