After retiring, former judge Newman joins Ga. law firm
Presided over Murdaugh case before accepting panelist role
You can’t keep a good lawyer out of the legal game for long.
Recently retired South Carolina Judge Clifton Newman of the Murdaugh murder trial fame is taking another major step in his legal career after retiring from public service.
JAMS, billed as “the largest private provider of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) services worldwide,” announced this week that the Hon. Clifton B. Newman (Ret.) has joined its team as a panelist.
ADR refers to several ways, including mediation and arbitration, that parties involved in a civil suit can resolve their issues without tying up the common pleas courts with costly trials.
Newman joins JAMS following 23 years as a judge on the South Carolina Circuit Court, where he presided over the South Carolina State Grand Jury and numerous highprofile civil and criminal cases, most recently The State v. Richard Alexander Murdaugh.
Newman retired from public service as a judge after gaining international fame during the sixweek, double murder trial of Alex Murdaugh, and then handling Murdaugh’s State Grand Jury fraud cases and those of his accomplices.
But Newman also distinguished himself on the civil side of the legal system, presiding over numerous cases involving professional negligence, business torts, construction defects, insurance coverage, wrongful death, and class actions.
“With over 23 years of experience on the bench, I am committed to resolving ordinary, complex, and high-profile matters at JAMS using the same even-tempered and consistent approach that has served me well throughout my career,” Newman said.
Newman has also overseen cases involving police shootings, false arrests and other governmental liability matters. A former president of the American College of Business Court Judges, he is adept at handling the issues and complexities of commercial litigation, stated the JAMS press announcement.
“Judge Newman has established an outstanding reputation within the South Carolina legal community and beyond for his thoughtful approach to decision-making,” said Chris Poole, JAMS CEO. “He has decades of experience across many areas of the law, and we believe he will thrive in this new role as a JAMS panelist.”
Newman will be based in JAMS’ Atlanta Resolution Center, where he will serve as an arbitrator, mediator and special master, handling construction, business/commercial, personal injury and torts, class action/mass torts, insurance, wrongful death, shareholder actions/business divorce and health care cases, stated the release, for clients across the country.
Newman earned his B.A. from Cleveland State University and his J.D. from the Cleveland State University School of Law.
Early in his career, Newman founded a successful private practice in Cleveland, Ohio, and ultimately settled in both Columbia and Kingstree, South Carolina, where he continued practicing law. He served as an assistant solicitor for Williamsburg County for over 16 years and spent 24 years in private practice before being unanimously elected to the South Carolina Circuit Court in 2000. He was unanimously reelected after that until his recent retirement from the bench.