Dell P. Chappell is a partner of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP in Columbia where he practices in the areas of product liability, pharmaceutical and medical device litigation, toxic torts, premises liability, business litigation and criminal law.  Dell also serves as chair of the Firm’s Associates Committee.

Dell serves as one of the coordinating counsel in national pharmaceutical mass tort litigation, and frequently serves as local and regional counsel for manufacturers of various pharmaceutical products, medical devices and other products in mass tort and local litigation.  Dell also serves as counsel for a leading U.S. corporation in its South Carolina, Florida, and Georgia premises liability litigation and has served extensively as counsel for numerous companies involved in business litigation in South Carolina.  Dell has also served as counsel for state produce farmers in successfully defending multi-plaintiff actions asserting violations of state and federal labor and wage laws.  Dell has developed extensive experience handling all aspects of litigation, including trial and pre-trial experience and complex litigation management.  As a former federal prosecutor, Dell also serves as counsel in various criminal matters in state and federal court. 

A member of the South Carolina Bar and the State Bar of California, Dell is admitted to practice before the United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California and for the District of South Carolina.  Dell has been admitted to practice pro hac vice in other state and federal courts across the United States. 

Prior to joining the Firm, Dell served on active duty in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's (JAG) Corps as a Captain and legal advisor for the U.S. Army Engineer School and senior installation staff, and as senior trial counsel for the largest engineer brigade in the U.S. Army.  Dell also served as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri where he actively prosecuted cases on behalf of the U.S. Attorney’s office.  

Dell is a member of the Defense Research Institute and its Drug and Medical Device and Electronic Discovery committees, and is a member of the American Bar Association and its Litigation and Products Liability sections.  Dell is also a member of the Richland County Bar Association and the South Carolina Defense Trial Attorneys’ Association.  An active member of the community, Dell has served on various civic boards of directors, including the Palmetto Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

In 1996, Dell earned a Juris Doctor, with distinction, from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law.  During law school, Dell was recognized as a member of the Traynor Honor Society for academic excellence and served on the Executive Committee of the National Moot Court Governing Board. He received the American Jurisprudence Award for Sales and Leases of Goods, and was awarded the Nevada Endowed Scholarship and the Raymond Henry Biele, III Memorial Scholarship. Dell earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, with distinction, from the University of Nevada in 1991.