Brian A. Comer

Brian Comer is a shareholder and Chair of the firm's Products Liability Practice Group.  Brian was a magna cum laude graduate of the University of South Carolina Honors College in International Studies and Economics and served as Student Body President during his undergraduate career.  Brian received his Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina School of Law and has an International Masters in Business Administration from the University's Moore School of Business, with a concentration in German.  During law school, he was a member of the South Carolina Law Review and the Order of Wig and Robe.  Prior to joining Collins & Lacy, Brian was a partner with a large national firm based in Columbia, South Carolina.

Brian is the founder and contributing author of South Carolina Products Liability Law Blog, for individuals and product manufacturers who are interested in this area of law. His goal is to provide current information on trends in products liability law in the Palmetto State.

Bookmark Brian's Blog: South Carolina Products Liability Law Blog

Practice Focus/Trial Experience

• Products Liability Litigation: including defense of pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers and sales representatives, as well as equipment and machinery manufacturers in claims arising from alleged product defects. 
• Professional Negligence Litigation: including defense of financial advisors in broker-dealer actions, medical providers, actuaries and other service providers.

Professional, Civic and Community Involvement

• Defense Research Institute
• Products Liability Committee
• Agricultural, Construction, Mining and Industrial Equipment Specialized Litigation Group (ACMIE SLG), Vice-Chair 
• ACMIE Website Contributor
• Drug and Medical Device Committee
• South Carolina Defense Trial Attorneys' Association
• Products Liability Substantive Law Committee, Co-Chair (2011-2012)
• International Society of Primerus Law Firms
• Richland County Bar Association
• NITA Advanced In-House Deposition Training (2006)
• International Association of Defense Counsel Trial Academy (2004)
• University of South Carolina Board of Visitors (2002-2006) 
• Chairman (2004-2005)
• First Baptist Church

Papers, Presentations and Publications

• "Drilling Down: Spoliation of Evidence," South Carolina Products Liability Law Blog, July 2011
• The South Carolina Products Liability Law Blog, Founder and Contributing Author with more than 100 blog posts to date
• "What is South Carolina's Law on Warnings?" South Carolina Bar CLE, April 25, 2011
• "Who Needs Letterman? - The Annual ACMIE TOP TEN CASES,"   presented at meeting of the Agricultural, Construction, Manufacturing and Industrial Equipment Specialized Litigation Group Session at the April 5 - 8, 2011 DRI Products Liability Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana.
• "Limits on the Duty to Warn in SC Products Liablity Law" - The Defense Line, Volume 39, Number 1, Pg. 33, Spring 2011
• "Products Liability Claims - What is South Carolina's Law on Warnings?" South Carolina Lawyer, January 2011
• "The Status of the Learned Intermediary Rule in South Carolina," The DefenseLine, Volume 38, Number 1, Pg. 21, Spring 2010
•  Products Liability Claims in South Carolina:  What Exactly Does "Essentially the Same Condition" Mean?, South Carolina Lawyer, November 2009.
• "Not So Straightforward:  Punitive Damages Safe Harbor Statutes,"  For the Defense, July 2008.
• "Bifurcation of Civil Cases in South Carolina and the Fourth Circuit," South Carolina Lawyer, November 2007. 
• Note, Piercing the Corporate Veil in Wilson v. Friedberg, 48 S.C.L. REV. 905 (1997).

Speaking Engagements

• Collins & Lacy Attorney Brian Comer to Participate in Primerus Products Liability Webinar, July 21, 2011
• Collins & Lacy Attorney Brian Comer to speak about "Products Liability Law in South Carolina.", September 8, 2010