David G. Traylor, Jr., a partner of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP in the Columbia office, practices in the areas of asbestos litigation, toxic torts, and mass torts. He has been actively involved in asbestos and toxic tort litigation since 1982, having participated in single plaintiff, consolidated, and mass trials for various defendants. He has tried asbestos cases in state and federal courts in Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia. Also, Mr. Traylor has managed witness development, preparation, and examination, and he has participated in the development of defense medical experts and state of the art experts. Mr. Traylor has cross-examined or deposed hundreds of plaintiffs’ medical experts.

 

Mr. Traylor has extensive experience in the area of asbestos case management and administration. He has managed thousands of cases from service of complaint to settlement or dismissal, supervised local counsel in a number of jurisdictions, and coordinated with regional/national counsel. He has also deposed countless number of plaintiffs, product identification witnesses, and other witnesses. While Mr. Traylor’s primary area of practice has been asbestos litigation, he has handled a significant number of other toxic tort matters, such as chemical exposure and formaldehyde cases.

 

Mr. Traylor has participated in numerous court-ordered settlement conferences, mediations, and arbitrations. Additionally, Mr. Traylor has extensive negotiation experience and has negotiated global settlements and claims handling administrative agreements. He has settled thousands of individual cases and large groups of cases for numerous defendants.

 

A member of the South Carolina Bar, Mr. Traylor is admitted to practice before the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina. He is the author of Survey, "Practice and Procedure," 33 S.C. L. REV. 103-24 (1981) and "Wrongful Death," 28 S.C. Jurisprudence, 1998.

A member of the American Bar Association, Mr. Traylor is also a member of American Board of Trial Advocates, the Defense Research Institute, the John Belton O’Neall Inn of Court, and the South Carolina Defense Trial Attorneys’ Association.  He is listed in The Best Lawyers in America (2006-2012). Best Lawyers also has named him as the 2012 Columbia, S.C., Lawyer of the Year in Product Liability Litigation – Defendants. He was also listed in the inaugural list of South Carolina "Super Lawyers" in 2008.

 

Mr. Traylor earned a Juris Doctor from University of South Carolina School of Law in 1981. During law school, he was a member of the National Moot Court Team and The South Carolina Law Review. From the University of South Carolina, Mr. Traylor earned a Master of Arts in English in 1974 and a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1972.