Posted in: Lawyers › None
J. Lewis Cromer, managing partner at Cromer Babb Porter & Hicks in Columbia, has been named the Distinguished Lawyer of 2022 by the South Carolina Bar Employment and Labor Law Section. He was honored for his contributions to the profession and section including mentoring generations of plaintiff’s lawyers. His nominators referred to him as a tireless advocate for workers and trailblazer in the use of tort law to further workers’ rights.
“The award is a source of great pride to me personally,” said Cromer. “But I am even prouder that it represents an outstanding group of attorneys past, present, and future, who protect the legal rights of both employees and employers in this great state.”
Cromer has actively practiced law for 62 years, beginning his studies at Clemson University. He soon decided to study law and graduated from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1959 and was admitted to the South Carolina Bar in the same year.
Through mentorship, he’s made an impactful impression on young lawyers by advocating for victims of discrimination. Cromer’s law partner J. Paul Porter confirmed the impact of Cromer’s his role as an attorney and mentor.
“I can keenly attest to his impact on me and my own practice,” said Porter in his nomination letter for Cromer. “Lewis’ mentorship has made me a creative lawyer, an empathetic counselor to my clients, and a civil opponent to my adversaries.”
In addition to being involved within the SC Bar in numerous leadership positions, Cromer has also served as the South Carolina Association for Justice former member of the Board of Governors and Employment Law Chair. In 2009, the Southern Trial Lawyers Association presented Cromer with its prestigious War Horse Award, which recognized him as a top courtroom advocate, leader in the trial bar, contributor to the teaching of trial advocacy, and a true character of his time.
“Lewis Cromer distinguished himself early by using the established statutes in creative ways and by using some relatively new state and federal laws for employees to break new ground in the area of employee rights,” said Stephen Savitz, labor and employment attorney at Gignilliat Savitz & Bettis LLP, who contributed a letter of support for Cromer’s nomination.