Columbia, SC personal injury attorney Mark D. Chappell talks about the firm’s fearless pursuit of justice. He shares that over the course of his career, he has taken on major cases that have led to significant safety reforms in South Carolina. Families across the state are safer today because of the perseverance of victims’ families and the legal actions he pursued on their behalf.

One such case involved a young boy named Chandler. His parents dropped him off at a swim party, and within an hour, they received a devastating call that he had died in an ATV accident. Through that family’s determination and his advocacy, South Carolina passed Chandler’s Law, which requires proper safety equipment and training before operating an ATV.

In another case, he represented a Dillon County sheriff’s officer whose life was irreparably changed after being struck head-on by a drunk driver. At the time, South Carolina law did not require establishments serving alcohol to carry substantial liability coverage. Through litigation and legislative action, he helped secure a law mandating that bars and restaurants maintain a $1 million liability insurance policy—something that had never been required before.

He also represented the family of a University of South Carolina freshman who tragically died after falling from a nine-story building. The university’s police mishandled the investigation so severely that the family pressed forward for change. With his guidance, the Jessica Horton Act was passed, which prohibits universities from investigating serious injuries, deaths, or sexual assaults on their own campuses, ensuring greater accountability and transparency.

These cases reflect his philosophy that meaningful change requires passion, compassion, curiosity, and fearlessness. Whether taking on powerful corporations like Johnson & Johnson in talc-related cancer litigation or pursuing justice against 3M in defective earplug cases, he believes that representing clients in high-stakes matters demands not only legal skill but also the courage to stand firm against formidable opponents.