George James | |
---|---|
Justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court | |
Assumed office February 7, 2017 | |
Preceded by | Donald W. Beatty |
Personal details | |
Born | Savannah, Georgia, U.S. | June 2, 1960
Education | The Citadel (BS) University of South Carolina (JD) |
George C. James, Jr (born June 2, 1960)[1] is an American lawyer and judge, who serves as a justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court.
James was born in Savannah, Georgia in 1960.[2] He was raised in Sumter, South Carolina, and graduated from Wilson Hall School in 1978.[2] He completed a bachelor's degree in business administration at The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina in 1982, and completed a J.D. degree at the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1985.[3]
James was in private practice in South Carolina from 1985 to 2006.[3] He worked for and became a partner with his father's law firm, Richardson, James and Playerm, which subsequently merged to become Lee, Erter, Wilson, James, Holler and Smith LLC in 2000.[2]
James was elected by the South Carolina General Assembly to serve as a state judge on the South Carolina Circuit Court in 2006, for the Third Circuit, which covers four counties in eastern South Carolina: Clarendon, Lee, Sumter, and Williamsburg. He was re-elected to a second term in 2012.
The South Carolina General Assembly elected James to serve as a justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court in February 2017, to fill the remaining three years of the term of Donald W. Beatty, who was elevated to chief justice.[3] The South Carolina General Assembly re-elected James to a new ten-year term on February 5, 2020.[4]
James is a former member of the South Carolina Supreme Court's Commission on Continuing Legal Education and Specialization.[5][6]