Meet the Team

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Kenneth M. Suggs

Litigation Principal

  • Lawdragon, 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers – 2022-2024
  • 2022 Tommy Malone Great American Eagle Award – Southern Trial Lawyers Association
  • The National Trial Lawyers Top 25 – Medical Malpractice
  • The National Trial Lawyers Top 100 – Civil Plaintiff
  • Best Lawyers® 2010, 2012, 2016 Lawyer of the Year – Product Liability Litigation, Plaintiffs – Columbia, SC
  • Best Lawyers® 2009, 2014 Lawyer of the Year – Personal Injury Litigation, Plaintiffs – Columbia, SC
  • 2016 War Horse Award – Southern Trial Lawyers Association
  • American Association for Justice – 2005-2006 President
  • The Best Lawyers in America®, Recognized since 1991
  • South Carolina Super Lawyers® 2008-2023
  • South Carolina Super Lawyers® 2008 Lawyer of the Year
  • American Board of Trial Advocates
  • Martindale-Hubbell® AV® Preeminent™
  • LinkedIn – Top 1% Most Endorsed in United States for Litigation
  • The Summit Council – Top Civil Justice Attorneys

VIEW AWARDS METHODOLOGY

Kenneth M. Suggs, a principal in the firm of Janet, Janet & Suggs, LLC, has been a tireless champion of consumer legal rights for over 40 years. Known for his advocacy in the areas of medical malpractice, product liability, catastrophic injuries, and wrongful death, he has been recognized nationally as one of the nation’s finest trial lawyers.

As head of the firm’s Personal Injury Division and a leader on medical malpractice teams, Ken has an in-depth understanding of how serious injuries from highway collisions to workplace injuries to doctor errors can impact the health and well-being of a person. He has sought and won justice for many, ranging from infants who suffered severe birth injuries to families severely burned in an 18-wheeler crash. Some of the judgments and verdicts he has won were against major corporations, including Fortune 500 corporations.

Suggs has held a broad range of leadership positions in many organizations devoted to law and education, including President of the American Association for Justice (formerly the Association of Trial Lawyers of America) from 2005-2006, and president of the South Carolina Association for Justice. In 2016, he received the prestigious War Horse Award from the Southern Trial Lawyers Association.

Suggs is routinely recognized as being among the top attorneys in the country. He has been listed among Best Lawyers in America® for more than 25 years in the areas of mass torts, medical malpractice, personal injury and product liability litigation. His other Best Lawyers® awards include Lawyer of the Year – Product Liability Litigation – Plaintiffs, Columbia, SC, 2016, 2012, 2010; and Best Lawyers® Lawyer of the Year – Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs, Columbia, SC, 2014, 2009.

Mr. Suggs has been named to South Carolina Super Lawyers since it was developed in 2008. In 2009, he was recognized as South Carolina Super Lawyers® Top Point Getter.

He has been honored with the American Association for Justice Harry Philo Award and the South Carolina Trial Lawyers Association Founders Award, both in 2007, and the American Bar Association’s Torts and Insurance Practice Section’s “Pursuit of Justice” award in 2008.

He also serves on the American Board of Trial Advocates and carries a Martindale-Hubbell® AV® Preeminent™ rating, the highest given.

Mr. Suggs is the 2006 recipient of the “Advocate of the Year” award presented by the South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center. He also attained recognition as a Fellow of the National College of Advocacy; he currently serves on the Advisory Board for Best Lawyers in America and the Executive Committee of the Lawyers Committee for the National Center for State Courts.

He received his Juris Doctorate from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1975, and a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Clemson University in 1968. He has served on the Clemson University President’s Advisory Committee and Board of Visitors. Before attending law school, he served in the United States Navy, including two years in the Vietnam War.

EDUCATION

  • Graduated Clemson University, B.A. Economics, 1968
  • Graduated University of South Carolina Law Center, 1975

MILITARY SERVICE

  • United States Navy
  • Navy Achievement Medal with Combat “V”
  • Vietnamese Honor Medal (awarded by government of South Vietnam)
  • Vietnam Service Medal
  • Vietnam Campaign Medal
  • Combat Action Ribbon
  • Meritorious Unit Citation
  • National Defense Medal

BAR ADMISSIONS

  • South Carolina Bar, 1975
  • Fourth Circuit of Appeals
  • United States Supreme Court

MEMBERSHIPS

  • American Association for Justice, President 2005-2006
  • The Summit Council
  • Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers
  • South Carolina Trial Lawyers Association, President, 1980 – 1981
  • South Carolina Bar, Young Lawyers Division, President, 1980
  • Richland County Bar Association, President, 1999
  • South Carolina Bar, House of Delegates, 1982 and 1996 – 1997
  • Public Justice Foundation, executive committee, 2009
  • Founding Fellow, Southern Trial Lawyers Association
  • Advocate, American Board of Trial Advocates

PUBLIC SERVICE ACTIVITIES

  • Board of Directors, Carolina Sunshine Children, Inc.
  • Team Captain, Trinity Cathedral Free Breakfast Program
  • Advisory Board, City Year Columbia
  • Advisory Board, South Carolina Center for Capital Litigation
  • Advisory Board, South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center
  • Advisory Board, St. Lawrence Place
  • Member, South Carolina Commission on Judicial Conduct
  • President’s Advisory Council, Clemson University

OTHER HONORS AND AWARDS

  • South Carolina Trial Lawyers Association President’s Award, 1988
  • South Carolina School of Law Alumni Association, “Compleat Lawyer” Award
  • Founders Award from South Carolina Trial Lawyers Association, 2006

PUBLICATIONS

  • Author, “The Heart of Darkness: The Modern Nursing Home,” S.C.T.L.A. Bulletin, September, 1986
  • Author, “Failure Analysis of a Plastic Boat Seat,” American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Pub. 87-DE-8
  • Author, “Recovery for Emotional Distress,” S.C.T.L.A. Bulletin, January, 1984
  • Author, “Secret Settlements,” South Carolina Lawyer, November – December, 1993
  • Co-author, South Carolina Appellate Practice Handbook
  • Co-author, Evaluating and Settling Personal Injury Claims in South Carolina
  • Co-author, The Law of Automobile Insurance in South Carolina

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