As an attorney, I am committed to making South Carolina a safer place in which to live and to obtaining just and fair compensation for persons and families who have been needlessly injured by preventable accidents. My life's work has been spent in the pursuit of those goals.

I believe in the elimination of frivolous lawsuits and defenses, and promote a system of justice which will weed out such cases and defenses which unnecessarily occupy the courts and deny justice to those with legitimate grievances.

I oppose the placement of arbitrary limits on recovery of damages because such limits prevent adequate compensation to the profoundly injured and do nothing to make South Carolina a safer place for its families. It is only by holding people accountable for the consequences of their acts that a safe environment is made possible.

I oppose the limiting of punitive damages awards against those people or entities who clearly and convincingly have knowingly produced and distributed dangerously defective products which kill and maim the citizens of this country. If the system forawarding punitive damages is to be changed, that change should include criminal sanctions for those people who knowingly cause injury and death.

Finally, I believe in the truth of the words spoken by Thomas Jefferson in 1787. Mr. Jefferson was fearful of the power of a "corps of sappers and miners who steadily worked to undermine the independent rights of citizens and to consolidate all power in the hands of a government in which they have a freehold.” Mr. Jefferson went on to say that the right to trial by jury in all matters is a sacred palladium of liberty and "the only anchor ever yet imagined by man by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution.” Mr. Jefferson’s words hold true and are still relevant today.