A History of Our Firm.

2009


  • Partner Peter Wilborn takes on several dozen new bicycle injury cases and re-launches the popular website www.mybikelaw.com, a legal resource for cyclists. Beyond representing cyclists who've been injured in traffic accidents, Wilborn promotes cycling safety and the laws aimed at protecting pedestrians and bicyclists. mybikelaw currently focuses its work in North and South Carolina, and consults on cases nationwide.

  • Peter Wilborn is one of 20 South Carolinians selected for a Liberty Fellowship. The two-year fellowship sponsored by Hayne Hipp, Wofford College and The Aspen Institute, and seeks to "empower the state and its future leaders to realize their full potential."

    2008


  • DAW moves into mod-urban offices it converted from former storage space above the Charleston storefront that housed Altman Furniture Co. from 1928 to 2006. (The furniture store was a fixture on upper King Street, and one of Charleston's longest running retail merchants - originally founded by DAW partner Samel Altman's father and two uncles.) DAW's retrofitted workspace will be the firm's permanent home.

  • The book "On the Global Waterfront, The Fight to Free the Charleston 5" is published, (Monthly Review Press, 2008). The book reads like a novel and documents the legal work of DAW partners in the volatile and highly publicized longshoreman showdown of 1999. The litigation ended in the successful release of the five dockworkers who'd been imprisoned after a labor protest. Copies of the book are now available for purchase on Amazon.

    2007


  • The American Bar Association recognizes DAW with a prestigious Pro Bono Publico Award, given annually to attorneys and firms that provide outstanding commitment to legal services for poor and disadvantaged people. DAW is one of only five recipients for 2007, named for its work on such cases as a successful suit to redraw Charleston County Council election districts to end voting discrimination, and a series of suits to save the land and homes of a group of African-Americans who were the target of highly sophisticated real estate scams.

    2006


  • For the first time, the South Carolina Bar Association honors two lawyers from one firm as Pro Bono Lawyers of the Year. The 2006 honor went to DAW partners Jonathan Altman and Peter Wilborn, and recognized the entire DAW firm's commitment to community service.

    2002


  • Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, a national organization, names DAW partner Armand Derfner (with co-counsel) as the 2002 Trial Lawyer of the Year. The award recognizes Derfner's work in Ayers v. Fordice, a 25-year case involving racial discrimination in Mississippi's higher education system. After the award ceremony, The Post and Courier wrote a High Profile feature about Derfner's life and career.