Partner in Firm of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP
CHICAGO (October 16, 2017) – On October 7th, John F. Kuppens of Columbia, SC became President of DRI-The Voice of the Defense Bar at the organization’s Annual Meeting in Chicago. He is a partner in Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP’s Columbia, SC office. With 22,000 members, DRI is the largest professional organization exclusively representing attorneys of the defense bar.
Mr. Kuppens has been a member of DRI for twenty-five years and has served on the DRI Board of Directors since 2011, and the last three years as a member of DRI’s Executive Committee. He recently served as a Board Liaison to the Corporate Counsel Roundtable and the Jury Preservation Task Force of DRI’s Center for Law and Public Policy. He is a past chair of DRI's Product Liability, Young Lawyers, and Membership Committees.
“John Kuppens got his start with DRI twenty-five years ago as a member of our Young Lawyers Committee,” says DRI Executive Director, John R. Kouris. “He has been a leader in transitioning DRI to the new realities of the legal profession, the adoption of new technologies and services, and the need to encourage, train, and retain young lawyers. John is uniquely positioned to lead DRI in this time of change for our profession.”
Mr. Kuppens is a member of the International Association of Defense Counsel and served on the Board of Directors of the South Carolina Defense Trial Attorneys Association from 2009-2014 and has been listed in Thomson Reuters’ South Carolina “Super Lawyers” since 2009. He has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America for his defense work in the areas of Commercial Litigation and Product Liability Litigation since2009 and in 2013 was named “Lawyer of the Year” in Columbia, SC for defending product liability litigation.
He graduated from Clemson University with a Bachelor of Science degree and received his J.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Law. He resides in Columbia, SC with his wife Jill.
About DRI – The Voice of the Defense Bar
For more than fifty-five years, DRI has been the voice of the defense bar, advocating for 22,000 defense attorneys, commercial trial attorneys, and corporate counsel and defending the integrity of the civil judiciary. A thought leader, DRI provides world-class legal education, deep expertise for policy-makers, legal resources, and networking opportunities to facilitate career and law firm growth. For more information, log on to www.dri.org.