Columbia law firm names new chief operating officer

Listen to this article

Smith Robinson has named Eddie Benton as the firm’s new chief operating officer.

Benton is a South Carolina native with more than three decades of experience in professional services administration, according to a news release. He has helped run several large and medium-sized law firms in South Carolina, as well as several other kinds of businesses across the country.

Benton has a master’s degree in finance from the University of North Carolina in Greensboro. Before receiving that, he earned bachelor’s degrees from both the University of South Carolina and Georgia Southern University in Statesboro. He holds a separate master’s degree from Appalachian State University and has studied at Capernwray School in Carnforth, England.

Benton knows the job of handling administration for legal professionals, the release stated.

Related: Columbia law firm creates criminal defense group serving South Carolina

Related: Maynard Nexsen acquires North Carolina law firm

“It’s my job to take care of the business and administrative aspects of the practice so the attorneys can focus on practicing law,” he said. That includes day-to-day administration as well as business strategy. Law firms have a lot of competition, and the challenge is to make sure potential clients know how Smith Robinson can assist them.

Benton grew up in Myrtle Beach, starting in a time when he and his fellow students could look out the window from their high school and see the waves on the beach that awaited them after the bell rang —before all the tall hotels went up, the release stated.

Smith Robinson grew out of the merger of two South Carolina law firms and consists of 16 attorneys based in offices in Columbia, Sumter, and Camden, practicing in a wide range of litigation areas, including trial and appellate work, plus government law, real estate, trusts and estates, and a variety of other areas.