Clarkson and Hale, LLC

Focus and practice areas

This is a boutique practice based in Columbia, South Carolina. It serves consumers and business owners in the city and the area around it. The work covers a small set of civil and criminal matters rather than one narrow field.

Five areas are listed: business litigation, civil litigation, collections and debt collection, DUI defense, and personal injury. The site notes a particular focus on helping clients deal with collection issues. That points to a firm comfortable on both sides of a dispute, chasing what a client is owed and defending a client who is being pursued.

Business litigation and civil litigation sit at the core. These are courtroom matters: contract fights, disputes between partners, claims over money or property. Collections work runs alongside them, since recovering a debt often ends in the same court. In my opinion, that grouping is a sensible fit rather than a grab bag.

The firm also handles DUI defense and personal injury. DUI work is criminal defense with tight deadlines and licence consequences. Personal injury runs the other way, with the client seeking recovery after harm. Between them, the practice can take a walk-in with a traffic charge and a client with a civil claim, and keep both in house.

How the team is built

The firm names two attorneys, Eric C. Hale and Wylie W. Clarkson, supported by associates. Both work out of Columbia. The site groups them under a simple "Our Team" heading, with associates behind the two named lawyers. Their training points in different directions, which gives the practice two clear strengths under one roof.

Eric C. Hale

Hale earned a B.A. in Political Science from the University of South Carolina. He followed it with a J.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 2003. He is a partner at the firm.

His practice reaches across business law, civil litigation, criminal defense, personal injury, collections, and appeals. The site also lists him as a certified South Carolina civil mediator. That range means one attorney can carry a matter from the first filing through trial, and on to an appeal if the case calls for it. The mediator credential adds a settlement track for clients who would rather resolve a dispute than fight it out.

Wylie W. Clarkson

Clarkson holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of South Carolina, awarded in 2006. He earned a Juris Doctor from the Charleston School of Law in 2009. He practices with the firm in Columbia.

His focus sits on bankruptcy and debt matters, including Chapter 11 bankruptcy. That lines up with the firm's collections work and looks at debt from the other side of the table. A client working through a business reorganisation, and a client trying to recover money, can both find a hand here.

What the record shows

The site states that clients have counted on the firm for over 15 years in business and civil litigation matters. No founding year is given, so this review puts no date on it. What the figure signals is a settled practice with a track behind it, not a new shingle.

The litigation experience is the part the firm chooses to put forward first. For a client weighing who to call about a business or civil dispute, that is a fair signal of where the practice spends its time. It says less about the DUI and injury work, which the site presents in plainer terms.

The firm calls itself boutique. In plain terms, that means small and hands-on. As a reviewer, I read it as a promise of direct attorney contact, though the site does not set out exactly how each matter is staffed. Two named partners and a short bench tend to mean the person you meet is the person on your file.

Getting started with the firm

A free consultation is offered on DUI cases. That gives someone facing a charge a low-commitment way to test the fit before they commit. For the other practice areas, the site directs people to a contact form and a phone line. An initial call is the likely first step for a litigation or collections matter.

Office hours run on a standard weekday schedule, with the office closed at the weekend. That is useful to know if a matter is not an emergency. It reads as a firm that keeps regular business rhythms and expects most contact during the working week.

Who this firm may suit

A prospective client in the Columbia area gets a two-attorney core with associate support. The blend of litigation, collections, DUI defense, and personal injury covers a lot of everyday legal needs in one place. Someone with a debt problem, a business dispute, or a driving charge would find a plausible match, and the same firm can often carry a related matter without a handoff.

What the site leaves out is worth naming too. There are no published case results, no client numbers, and no awards, so this review carries none. In my opinion, that restraint is not a weakness. It leaves the firm to stand on its stated work and the credentials of the two attorneys it names, which is the kind of ground this directory prefers.