Williams & Williams Earns Three Regional Tier 1 Rankings in the 2027 Edition of Best Law Firms®

Williams & Williams Attorneys at Law, a personal injury, civil litigation, and criminal defense firm with offices in Orangeburg and Columbia, South Carolina, has been ranked in the 2027 edition of Best Law Firms®, published by Best Lawyers®. The firm earned three regional Tier 1 rankings in the Columbia, SC region.

• Best Law Firms ranked Williams & Williams in Tier 1, its highest tier, in the Columbia, SC region for Criminal Defense: General Practice, DUI / DWI Defense, and Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs.
• Seven Williams & Williams attorneys are recognized in the 2027 edition of The Best Lawyers in America®, the peer-review list the firm rankings are built on.
• Neither honor can be bought. Recognition by Best Lawyers comes from the votes of other lawyers. Best Law Firms adds confidential feedback from clients.
• Best Law Firms recognized 15,671 firms in its 2027 edition. By its count, that is 3.41% of the law firms in the country.

Williams & Williams holds three regional Tier 1 rankings in the 2027 edition of Best Law Firms, all in the Columbia, SC region:

• Regional Tier 1: Criminal Defense: General Practice
• Regional Tier 1: DUI / DWI Defense
• Regional Tier 1: Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs

Best Law Firms awards its rankings by practice area and by region. Its Columbia-SC region covers both of our offices, in Orangeburg and in Columbia. The rankings are listed on our Best Law Firms profile.

It is a ranking of law firms, built on what clients and other lawyers say about them.

Best Law Firms is published by Best Lawyers, which has ranked U.S. law firms every year since 2010. The 2027 edition came out on November 5, 2026. It is the 17th.

A firm cannot simply sign up. To be considered in a practice area and region, at least one of its lawyers must already be recognized there in the current edition of The Best Lawyers in America. From there, the ranking draws on four sources:

• Clients. Clients and professional references are surveyed in confidence. They are asked about things like responsiveness, cost-effectiveness, civility, and whether they would send someone else to the firm.
• Other lawyers. Attorneys already recognized by Best Lawyers vote on the firms they know in their own field.
• Firm leaders. Managing partners and practice group leaders are asked for their read on the legal market.
• The firm itself. Each firm submits a survey about its practice.

Best Law Firms combines all of it into a score. Because firms are often separated by small differences, it sorts them into tiers instead of ranking them first, second, third. Tier 1 is the highest.

For the 2027 edition, 30,024 lawyers took part and cast more than 3.8 million votes. Best Law Firms also heard from 109,963 client references and interviewed 1,053 firm and practice group leaders. In the end it recognized 15,671 firms.

There is no fee to be considered for a ranking or to receive one. The full selection standards are in the Best Law Firms methodology.

Seven Williams & Williams attorneys are recognized in the 2027 edition of The Best Lawyers in America. Each was chosen by other lawyers who practice in the same field and region.

• David R. Williams is recognized for Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs, and has been recognized by Best Lawyers since 2018.
• Ginny W. Williams is recognized for Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs, and has been recognized by Best Lawyers since 2023.
• C. Bradley "Brad" Hutto is recognized for Criminal Defense: General Practice, DUI / DWI Defense, and Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs, and has been recognized by Best Lawyers since 2009.
• J. Andrew "Andy" Delaney is recognized for Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs, and has been recognized by Best Lawyers since 2022.
• Skyler B. Hutto is recognized for Criminal Defense: General Practice and Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs, and has been recognized by Best Lawyers since 2022.
• Russell "Russ" A. Blanchard IV is recognized for Litigation - Real Estate and Workers' Compensation Law - Claimants, and has been recognized by Best Lawyers since 2024.
• Melissa Mosier is recognized for Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs, and has been recognized by Best Lawyers since 2021.

All seven are listed on our Best Lawyers profile.

Best Lawyers® is a list of lawyers chosen by other lawyers.

Best Lawyers® was founded in 1981 and published the first edition of The Best Lawyers in America in 1983. It has used the same peer-review method for more than 40 years:

1. Nomination. Anyone can nominate a lawyer in private practice.
2. Peer review. Lawyers who are already recognized, and who practice in the same field and the same region, rate each nominee on one question: would they refer a case to this lawyer? Nobody votes on themselves.
3. Analysis. Best Lawyers reviews the feedback.
4. Eligibility check. It confirms each lawyer is in good standing with the bar.

Lawyers cannot pay to be included.

The 2027 edition recognizes 81,620 lawyers in 151 practice areas. By Best Lawyers' count, that is about 5% of the practicing attorneys in the country. The list was drawn from 3.8 million evaluations by more than 32,000 voting lawyers.

This is the list the firm rankings start from. Without recognized lawyers, a firm cannot be ranked in Best Law Firms at all.

It also answers a question most clients can't. Most people hire a lawyer once or twice in their lives and have no way to compare one against another. The lawyers who practice alongside them, and against them, do.

The full selection standards are published in the Best Lawyers methodology.

Because the people voting have seen the work up close.

We never see how anyone votes on us. Best Lawyers keeps that feedback confidential. But we know who is voting: recognized lawyers who practice in our fields, in our part of South Carolina. They are the attorneys we try cases against, the ones we work alongside as co-counsel, and the ones who send us cases they can't take themselves.

Here is what we think the voters see.

• We aren't afraid to go totrial. Other attorneys notice what happens in a courtroom, and they see how hard we fight. In October we shared the story of a $318,000 federal jury verdict won by Maya Grace Slaughter and Melissa Mosier for a property owner his insurer had accused of fraud.
• The recognition runs through the whole firm. Seven attorneys across five practice areas. C. Bradley Hutto has been recognized since 2009, and five of the seven were first recognized in 2021 or later.
• Other lawyers already trust us with their cases. The Best Lawyers ballot asks whether a lawyer would refer a case to you. For us that is not a hypothetical. Attorneys across South Carolina bring us in as co-counsel, and we have handled thousands of referred cases.
• We have been here since 1936. A reputation among lawyers is built one courtroom appearance at a time. Ours started in Orangeburg County 90 years ago.

The votes come from people who have watched us work. That is the part we are proudest of.

Founded in Orangeburg, South Carolina, in 1936, Williams & Williams Attorneys at Law has served clients across the state for 90 years. Our attorneys are relentless advocates for justice, formidable in the courtroom and compassionate with the people and families they represent.

Learn more about our attorneys.

Williams & Williams practices personal injury, civil litigation, and criminal defense from its Orangeburg office (1281 Russell St., Orangeburg, SC 29115) and Columbia office (3104 Devine St., Columbia, SC 29205).

Call (803) 844-9822 or schedule a free consultation. Every consultation is conducted by a Williams & Williams attorney.

Best Law Firms and The Best Lawyers in America are published by Best Lawyers. The rankings and recognitions described here are from the 2027 editions. Selection standards are available at bestlawfirms.com/methodology and bestlawyers.com/methodology.

PRIOR RESULTS DO NOT GUARANTEE A SIMILAR OUTCOME. EVERY CASE IS DIFFERENT AND DEPENDS ON ITS OWN FACTS.