DUFFY & YOUNG - Key Persons
Blake McKie is a civil litigator who represents individuals and businesses in state and federal courts in a broad range of matters.
Brian is a Past President of both the South Carolina Chapter of the Federal Bar Association and the James L. Petigru American Inn of Court. He continues to serve as an active member in each of these organizations. Brian is a permanent member of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Judicial Conference and participates in other legal service organizations and civic projects. Brian also served as an Adjunct Professor at the Charleston School of Law.
Brian is a former partner of one of South Carolina's largest law firms. Prior to returning home to practice in South Carolina, he practiced with Arnold & Porter LLP in Washington, D.C. Brian and his wife, Medéa, are the parents of three children.
Brian C. Duffy is a trial lawyer with experience in civil cases of all shapes and sizes-from cases in the United States Supreme Court and with judgments and settlements of tens of millions of dollars to a variety of smaller disputes in South Carolina's trial courts and administrative law courts
David Whittington is an attorney working in the Johns Island office where his practice is focused on the representation of individuals and small businesses in matters ranging from personal injury cases to business disputes. Prior to joining Duffy & Young, David owned Knight & Whittingon LLC and prior to that David was a shareholder at Sinkler and Boyd, now known as Haynesworth Sinkler Boyd.
Over the course of his career, David has defended insurance companies, businesses and individuals in a variety of civil litigation matters and prosecuted personal injury cases against insurance companies businesses and individuals. Since he began practice in 1987, he has handled cases involving wrongful death, personal injury, product liability, workers compensation, trucking cases, insurance bad faith, medical malpractice, construction defects, partnership disputes, breach of contract actions, and unfair trade practices claims.
He has tried over fifty cases to verdict in the state and federal courts of South Carolina and argued cases before the South Carolina Court of Appeals, the South Carolina Supreme Court, and the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. In 2023, David became a fellow in the American College of Trial Attorneys. He is currently the Immediate Past President of the Charleston Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates. He is board certified in Civil Trial Advocacy by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. He is certified by the South Carolina Supreme Court as a mediator and also serves as a mentor for the South Carolina Supreme Court's mentoring program.
He is a member of the South Carolina Bar and has served on the South Carolina Bar's Board of Governors. He is also a member of the Torts and Insurance Practice Section, the Trial and Appellate Advocacy Section, and the Workers Compensation Law Section of the South Carolina Bar. He is a past president of the South Carolina Bar Young Lawyers Division. He has also served as a member of the South Carolina Association for Justice, Board of Governors. He is a member of the Charleston County Bar and the Dorchester County Bar. He is also a member of the American Bar Association and the American Association for Justice.
Active in his community, he served as the Chief Municipal Judge for the Town of Summerville from 2012 through 2023.
He graduated from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1987. While in Law School he was a member of the Moot Court Bar, the Order of the Barrister, and the National Moot Court team. He received his undergraduate degree in Business Administration from the College of Charleston in 1983. He presently lives on Johns Island with his wife Lisa.
Hunter's civil litigation practice spans many areas, but his primary focus is representing businesses, organizations, and individuals in commercial disputes and representing individuals who have suffered personal injury. Prior to joining Duffy & Young, Hunter gained invaluable experience clerking for The Honorable A. Marvin Quattlebaum, Jr. for the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, as well as working for two regional law firms.
Job Titles:
- Shareholder
- Member of the South Carolina Bar Association
- Vice President to the Board of Directors for the Charleston Day School
Rutledge currently serves as Vice President to the Board of Directors for the Charleston Day School. Rutledge is a past president of the Board of Directors for the Preservation Society of Charleston. Rutledge has served as a board member to the Middleton Place Foundation and First Scots Kindergarten.
Rutledge is a Charleston native and has been a trial lawyer for close to 20 years. Rutledge has represented injured people, defrauded investors, employees, borrowers, landowners, businessmen, and closely held companies. During his career Rutledge has tried cases against banks, insurance companies, publicly traded corporations, and national product manufacturers among others. Everyone is equal in the eyes of the law, and anyone can be held accountable through a jury trial.
Job Titles:
- Fellow of the American College of Trial
- President of the Charleston County Bar
- SPECIAL COUNSEL
Johnny is a fellow of the American College of Trial lawyers, and formerly served on its State Committee, and is a permanent member of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Judicial Conference. He has been listed in Best Lawyers in America for over five years in the Bet-the-Company category, and has been awarded the Bet-the-Company Litigator of the Year for the Charleston area for 2014. He is a long standing member of Super Lawyers, and has been designated in the coveted Tier One of Chambers Best Business Litigation Lawyers in America. Johnny is also recognized by Global Lawyers Experts for his commercial litigation and condemnation experience.
Locally, Johnny has served as President of the Charleston County Bar and as President of the Coastal Chapter of American Board of Trial Advocates. He was previously appointed by the South Carolina Supreme Court as a South Carolina Bar examiner and as a member of the South Carolina Supreme Court's Grievance Committee. The United States District Court appointed him to a committee to review a Magistrate Judge's qualifications for reappointment. A graduate of Wofford College, Johnny served on its Alumni Advisory Board. He also graduated from the University of South Carolina School of Law, and received its Compleat Lawyer Award in 2003. He is also a life fellow of The American Bar Foundation.
In over thirty years of handling civil matters for Plaintiffs and Defendants, Johnny Linton has concluded jury and non-jury trials in counties throughout South Carolina and in five Divisions of the United States District Court.
Julie is a trial attorney who represents clients in courtrooms across South Carolina. She advocates for individuals and small business who have been treated unfairly - including families who've lost a loved one in wrongful death claims, consumers in product defect cases, patients who have been injured due to medical malpractice, and individuals and businesses who have been treated unfairly or been the victims of fraud.
Mary Linton is a civil litigator who focuses on complex matters and prides herself on helping clients navigate the judicial process. Mary understands the needs of clients and utilizes her litigation background and time as a judicial law clerk to help clients understand their case so they remain comfortable and fully informed.
Mary earned her Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina and her undergraduate degree from the College of Charleston. While in law school, Mary served as the Articles Editor for the ABA Real Property, Trust and Estate Journal, was a member of the Phi Delta Phi legal fraternity, and served as a student mentor. During law school, she clerked for the South Carolina legislative counsel and a mid-size litigation firm, where she gained valuable experience that led her to continue her career in litigation.
Prior to joining Duffy & Young, Mary worked for a highly respected litigation firm where she focused her practice on representing clients involved in dram shop, personal injury, premises liability, and construction defect actions. Following law school, she served as a judicial law clerk for the Honorable Deadra L. Jefferson, Resident Judge for the Ninth Judicial Circuit. Mary's prior experience in litigation has allowed her the opportunity to represent clients from the inception of a case through mediation and trial.
Mary currently serves on the South Carolina Judicial Qualifications Committee. Members of this committee evaluate candidates for selection to the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, Circuit and Family Courts, and Administrative Law Courts in South Carolina. Outside of the office, she resides in Charleston with her husband and beloved dog, Corduroy. She is an avid equestrian and a zealous supporter of the H.O.P.E Acres Rescue.
Matt Hubbell is a former federal prosecutor with decades of experience advising and defending clients in white collar criminal defense and False Claims Act/Qui Tam cases. Matt began his legal career in 1991 as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of South Carolina, where he prosecuted complex white collar and other high-profile cases.
In private practice, he brings global law firm experience to a local practice with deep ties to the legal community in South Carolina. Matt has represented many health care providers, defense contractors, and numerous CEOs and other executives in complex white collar and False Claims Act/Qui Tam matters. He has extensive experience in internal investigations, federal grand jury investigations, State grand jury investigations, parallel criminal and civil proceedings, and trials.
Matt handles matters involving government program fraud, including the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and other Covid relief programs, health care, defense contracting and set-aside programs, environmental enforcement, tax, bank fraud, public corruption, securities, customs, and forfeiture.
Matt is often called upon by corporate counsel to represent individual executives and employees. He has years of experience working in joint defense/common interest groups and serving as local counsel for national and international law firms. He has represented clients in many if not most of the significant and high profile white collar and False Claims Act matters in South Carolina over the last 20+ years. To learn more about Matt's representative experience, click here.
As an Assistant United States Attorney for nearly 10 years, Matt gained recognition for prosecuting numerous complex white collar crimes involving health care fraud, false claims, environmental crime, securities fraud, computer crimes, wire and mail fraud, tax and money laundering offenses, and public corruption. Among his more high-profile cases were his prosecutions of the first federal criminal health fraud case tried in the District of South Carolina, a shipping company in the largest federal oil spill case in South Carolina, and a state judge for fraud and attempted murder for hire.
In private practice, Matt has achieved the best possible result for numerous clients: a non-public "declination" where he persuaded the government to silently close the matter without any prosecution. In the courtroom, Matt won a not guilty verdict for his client in a lengthy federal antitrust trial in Charlotte, N.C, and a not guilty verdict for his client in a significant federal Clean Water Act case tried in Charleston, S.C.
Matt is honored and humbled by the recognitions and responsibilities the legal community has granted him. Among other distinctions, Matt has served as the President of the Federal Bar Association (S.C. Chapter), the Chair of the Judicial Merit Selection Panel appointed by the Chief United States District Judge in the District of South Carolina, and the Chair of the South Carolina Bar Health Care Section. For many years he has been awarded the highest AV Martindale Hubbell peer rating and has multiple consecutive recognitions by Super Lawyers. Read more about Matt's achievements and professional activities by clicking here.
Matt is also well known in South Carolina as a prolific speaker and writer on legal issues related to white collar criminal and False Claims Act/Qui Tam matters. To review a list of Matt's speaking engagements and publications, click here.
Patrick Wooten has a broad litigation practice and more than ten years of experience litigating civil matters in state and federal courts. A former clerk to a United States District Court Judge, Patrick has experience handling small and large matters, and he looks for creative ways to solve his clients' problems in a cost-efficient manner. Patrick has represented corporate, institutional, and individual clients in a wide range of litigation matters, including complex commercial litigation, business litigation, appellate litigation, class action litigation, real estate litigation, False Claims Act litigation, probate litigation, and trust and fiduciary litigation. In addition to successfully defending many clients, Patrick has recovered in excess of $50 million for his clients who were plaintiffs, including two settlements of $15 million or more. Patrick has been consistently selected by his peers as a South Carolina Super Lawyers' Rising Star, a distinction reserved for 2.5% of attorneys practicing across the state.
In addition to practicing law, Patrick is active in the Charleston community and with various professional organizations. He previously served as Chairman of the Board of Charleston Legal Access, Charleston's only non-profit, sliding scale law firm, and he previously served as President of the South Carolina Bar Young Lawyers Division. Patrick has been selected as one of Charleston's "Forty Under 40" and received the Leadership in Law award from South Carolina Lawyers Weekly. He is a graduate of Leadership Charleston, the Riley Institute Diversity Leaders Initiative, and the IADC Trial Academy, and he is a board member of the South Carolina Chapter of the Federal Bar Association and a member of the James L. Petigru American Inn of Court.
Patrick is a former partner of one of South Carolina's largest law firms. Patrick and his wife, Tara, live in West Ashley and are the parents of a daughter and a son.
Rob Wehrman graduated from the University of South Carolina in 2010 and from Columbia Law School in 2013. Rob has represented corporate clients in a large firm setting and has litigated on behalf of indigent clients at the Charleston County Public Defender's office. Rob also served as a law clerk for United States District Judge David C. Norton from 2015-2017. He is a member of the Charleston County Bar Association and is admitted to practice in all of South Carolina's state and federal courts.
Rob's practice focuses on civil litigation, where he uses his wide-ranging experience to solve the difficult issues that often arise in complex cases. He understands the need to combine strong, creative advocacy with a strategic approach to achieving his client's goals.
In addition to his legal practice, Rob serves on Charleston County Council. He lives in North Charleston with his wife and two children.
Wilson practices in the areas of civil litigation and white collar criminal defense. In his practice, Wilson employs the insight and experience he gained during his time as a federal law clerk to strategize and problem-solve in ways that best serve his clients.