David W. Harwell - Former Chief Justice, S.C. Supreme Court
Alumni - David W. Harwell
David W. Harwell attended Mars Bluff Elementary School, Poynor Junior High School (now Moore and Williams Junior High schools) and McCleneghan High School (now South Florence High School) before leaving Florence for the University of South Carolina.
After serving in the Navy from 1952-54, Harwell attended the University of South Carolina, graduating in 1958. From there, he began a stellar legal career that would ultimately see him rise to the top seat in our state’s judiciary. Harwell was elected to the state House of Representatives and served for 10 years until 1973. While there, he chaired the South Carolina Agriculture Study Committee.
He was elected without opposition as judge of the state’s 12th Judicial Circuit in 1973 and served continuously until elected to the state Supreme Court in 1980.
After his election to the state Supreme Court in 1980, Harwell served as Associate Justice until 1991. That year, he was elected as Chief Justice of the S.C. Supreme Court.
Harwell has been extremely active in civic affairs through the years, serving as chairman of the Florence County Heart Association and receiving the Distinguished Service Award from the Florence Jaycees. He is a graduate of the American Academy of Judicial Education at the University of Colorado, and received an honorary doctorate of humanities from Francis Marion College in 1987.
Today, Harwell is Special Counsel with the law firm Nelson, Mullins, Riley and Scarborough in Myrtle Beach. He enjoys a national reputation as a mediator, arbitrator and writer and speaker on alternative dispute resolution. He is the former co-chairman of South Carolina’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee and a member of the American Bar Association’s Section on Dispute Resolution. He is a certified mediator in both state and federal courts.
