Erik Norton is an associate of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP who practices in Columbia in the area of business litigation. He concentrates his practice in the areas of complex commercial litigation and dealer/distributor/franchise litigation.

 

Mr. Norton has worked on complex matters involving a wide variety of issues, including distributorship and franchise disputes, construction defects, bank fraud, lender liability, and insurance bad faith litigation. A member of the South Carolina Bar, Mr. Norton has been admitted to practice in the District of South Carolina, the Eastern District of Michigan and the Northern District of Mississippi.

 

Mr. Norton is also a member of the American Bar Association and the Forum on Franchising. He is the co-author of "Reliability and Admissibility: The Foundation of Extrapolation Evidence," For the Defense, August 2007; and "Anticoncurrent Causation Clauses: Was it Wind or Water?" SC Lawyer, January 2008.

 

In 2006, Mr. Norton initiated the Firm’s South Carolina Student Advocacy Project, where he recruits, trains, and mentors a team of attorneys who provide pro bono representation to students with disabilities in school administrative proceedings. Mr. Norton also was instrumental in creating a new umbrella project known as Children and the Law. The project includes the South Carolina Student Advocacy Project, Project Impact (Inspiring and Motivating Parent Assistance through Collaboration) in North Carolina, and the TeamChild Early Intervention Project in Georgia, all of which are major pro bono programs representing children in these three states.

 

For his dedication to children and his commitment to these projects, Mr. Norton received the 2007 Claude M. Scarborough Jr. Pro Bono Award from the Firm. He also serves on the boards of Pro-Parent, a nonprofit organization providing parent training and resources, and the S.C. Autism Society.

 

Prior to law school, Mr. Norton taught high school English and coached sports at a Columbia area high school while also serving as Regional Director for an SAT preparation company. In 2003, he was the AAA Girls High School Soccer Coach of the Year.

 

Mr. Norton earned a Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina School of Law, where he was named to the Order of the Coif, a School of Law Merit Scholar, and a legal writing assistant. He also was a member of the Real Property, Probate and Trust Journal. He earned a Master of Arts in Teaching, magna cum laude, in 1997 from the University of South Carolina and a Bachelor of Arts in English, cum laude, in 1995 from the South Carolina Honors College. In 1992, Mr. Norton spent time as an exchange student at the University of Kent-Canterbury in England.