“Our firm focuses on providing practical and efficient legal services and solutions designed to complement our clients’ business goals.”

William O. Higgins

Bill has been practicing law in Columbia since 1985. His primary practice areas are commercial real estate, tax-deferred exchanges of real estate, entity formation and other business transactions, and legal ethics and lawyer misconduct. Bill also serves as general counsel to GLV. Bill teaches the Real Estate Transactions I course at the University of South Carolina School of Law.

Bill is an active member of the South Carolina Bar, having served as chair of the Real Estate Practice Section Council, the Professional Responsibility Committee, and the Ethics 2000 subcommittee. He currently serves on the South Carolina Bar’s Ethics Advisory Opinion Committee and the Professional Responsibility Committee, as well as serving as a faculty member for the Legal Ethics and Practice Program: Ethics School co-sponsored by the South Carolina Bar’s Professional Responsibility Committee and the South Carolina Supreme Court’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel.

Bill received an LL.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law in 1998; a J.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1984, where he was a member of the Law Review and the Order of Wig and Robe; and a B.S., summa cum laude, from Presbyterian College in 1982.

Bar Admissions

South Carolina Bar
U.S. District Court, District of South Carolina

Professional/Civic Affiliations and Honors

Peer Review Rated – AV (Preeminent) in Martindale Hubbell
Included in Best Lawyers in America for Real Estate and for Ethics and Professional Responsibility
South Carolina Bar Professional Responsibility Committee, Past Chair (2001-2002 and 2002-2003), Current Member
South Carolina Bar Ethics 2000 Subcommittee, Past Chair (2001-2003)
South Carolina Bar Real Estate Practice Section Council, Former Member (Chair, 2010-2011)
South Carolina Bar Ethics Advisory Opinion Committee, Past Chair, Current Member
Frequent CLE lecturer/presenter on real estate and legal ethics issues
“Legal Ethics and Practice Program-Ethics School” sponsored by Office of Disciplinary Counsel and Professional Responsibility Committee of the South Carolina Bar, Faculty Member
First Presbyterian Church, Member, Deacon

Publications

Are You Sure You’re Ready to Disburse?, SC Lawyer Magazine, 2009

Education

Presbyterian College, B.S., summa cum laude

University of South Carolina Law School, J.D.

• Member, Law Review
• Member, Order of Wig and Robe

New York University School of Law, LL.M.

Contact

803.404.5712 Direct
bhiggins@glvlawfirm.com Email
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