S. Keith Hutto is a partner of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP in Columbia where he practices in the areas of complex business litigation, including business torts, class actions, contract law, antitrust and unfair competition, franchise and distribution litigation, fraud and financial matters.

Mr. Hutto has a national practice with extensive experience in the management and trial of complex business litigation in state and federal courts throughout the United States. He has been an active trial lawyer for over 28 years and has served as lead trial counsel in business litigation and multi-district matters in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. Mr. Hutto currently chairs the firm’s Business and Distribution Litigation Group, a team of lawyers dedicated to the management and trial of complex commercial disputes for numerous local, regional and national clients. Mr. Hutto’s broad experience in litigation has involved diverse businesses including the hospitality industry, real estate, restaurants and fast food establishments, automotive manufacturers and distributors, financial institutions, paint and chemical companies, and amateur and professional sports leagues.

Mr. Hutto is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), and is listed in The Best Lawyers in America, The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers, South Carolina Super Lawyers, Benchmark Litigation’s "Litigation Stars," and Corporate Counsel Magazine’s Best Lawyers. A member of the South Carolina Bar and past chair of its Professionalism Committee, Mr. Hutto is a member of the American Bar Association (Litigation Section; Forum on Franchising), the Richland County Bar Association, and the South Carolina Defense Trial Attorneys’ Association. He is immediate past chair of the Business Litigation Committee of the largest nationwide association of defense lawyers, the Defense Research Institute, and he is a member of the steering committee of the Business Litigation Section of the American Law Firm Association.

Mr. Hutto is admitted to practice before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second, Third, Fourth, Sixth, Tenth and Eleventh Circuits, the South Carolina Supreme Court, the U.S. District Court for the Districts of South Carolina, and numerous other federal and state courts throughout the country. Mr. Hutto has lectured frequently in national forums and published articles on trial tactics, business litigation, electronic discovery, evidence, and other legal issues.

Mr. Hutto holds leadership positions with numerous organizations, and has served on the boards of the American Cancer Society-South Carolina Division (past chair), Heathwood Hall Episcopal School (vice chair), the Columbia City Ballet, The Summit Club, and the South Carolina Commission for the Arts.

Mr. Hutto earned a Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1982. During law school, he was a member of the Order of Wig and Robe, the National Moot Court Team, and Phi Delta Phi. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology, cum laude, from Clemson University in 1979.