Wes A. Kissinger
Bio
Wes Kissinger joined what was then Harrison, White, Smith, Hayes, & Coggins, P.C. in 2003 after spending the first five years of his practice defending personal injury lawsuits, mostly arising from automobile collisions and commercial premises accidents, for several insurance companies. Now as Managing Partner of KD Trial Lawyers, he applies what he learned defending lawsuits to his trial practice representing individuals and families in state and federal court. His practice focus has remained personal injury and wrongful death claims arising from car, motorcycle, and truck collisions, as well as nursing home abuse and neglect and medical malpractice. Wes has been voted by his peers for Super Lawyers every year since 2014 and has been a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates since 2017. Wes was also named among the Legal Elite of the Upstate 2022.
His practice focuses on Trucking Accidents, Wrongful Death, Car and Motorcycle Accidents, Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect, Medical Malpractice, Dram Shop / Alcohol Sale Liability. Wes has achieved numerous multi-million-dollar settlements involving trucking accidents, and numerous jury trial verdicts, including a $2,000,000 jury award in Spartanburg County arising from medical malpractice. Wes admits that he loves the competitive aspects of being a civil litigator. But more than anything, he says, his greatest enjoyment as a lawyer comes from the people he represents.
“I like helping people navigate a process they’re not familiar with and helping them through a very difficult time in their lives,” he says. “Until they’re in a situation when they need a lawyer, people oftentimes don’t really have a sense of how much their lives can be affected by an event they did nothing to cause. I want to ease that burden.”
In similar fashion, he strives to carry this kind of human touch into the courtroom when he is trying cases. “I do my best not to speak like a lawyer,” he says. “When I’m speaking to a jury, I speak to them like an ordinary person; I try to make difficult concepts very easy to understand by using plain language. Trial is the art of persuasion. It is hard to persuade someone if he or she doesn’t understand what you’re talking about.”
Wes and his wife have five children ranging in age from elementary school to college. They enjoy camping, water sports, and hunting. An avid motorcyclist, Wes has a unique perspective and passion for representing fellow riders. He is also passionate about serving on the Board of Directors for Greer Christian Learning Center.
Bar Admissions
- South Carolina, 1997
- U.S. District Court District of South Carolina, 1998
- U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit, 2002
Education
- University of South Florida, 1993 – B.A.
- Cumberland School of Law, Samford University, Birmingham, Alabama, 1997 – J.D.
Professional Organizations
- American Association for Justice
- American Bar Association
- Federal Bar Association
- Spartanburg County Bar Association
- South Carolina Association for Justice
- South Carolina Bar House of Delegates – 7th Circuit Representative
- South Carolina Bar Association
- American Board of Trial Advocates, 2017- Present
Honors and Recognitions
- South Carolina Legal Elite, 2022
- South Carolina Super Lawyers List, 2017-2022
- AV® Preeminent™ Rating, Martindale Hubbell®, 2013-2022
Continuing Legal Education Presentations
- Obtaining the Best Settlement for Personal Injury Clients: Know Where to Start; Settling Personal Injury Claims with Ethical Integrity, January 2009
- Advanced Discovery and Evidence: Ethical Considerations and Malpractice Prevention, November 2007
Areas of Practice
- Trucking Accidents
- Wrongful Death
- Car and Motorcycle Accidents
- Nursing Home Abuse and Negligence
- Medical Malpractice
- Dram Shop / Alcohol Sale Liability
Awards & Associations
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Why should someone come to KD Trial Lawyers?
Simple: we know what we’re doing and we do it the right way.
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What are your favorite things about your job?
Over twenty years of practice I have had cases involving airplanes, amusement park rides, brain surgeons, rodeo horses, roofing projects, boundary disputes, ambulances, cranes, race car drivers, trains, trucks and prison…the list goes on. I have loved learning about all of those things. Every case I have is an opportunity to learn something else, especially something about my client.
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What do you like most about the law?
Law, in its purest form, is consistent and applies equally to all. But it’s not that simple in application. It is the lawyer, on behalf of his client, that makes sure the law is applied justly. It is the lawyer that evens the playing field. It is why the American judicial system is the greatest in the world. A person of little or no financial means has access to the same judicial system that decides controversies involving multimillion-dollar corporations.