David Lail

Top rated Personal Injury attorney in Charleston, South Carolina

Yarborough Applegate
David Lail
Yarborough Applegate

Practice Areas: Personal Injury; view more

Licensed in South Carolina since: 2011

Education: Charleston School of Law

Selected to Super Lawyers: 2022 - 2025 Selected to Rising Stars: 2016 - 2021
Free Consultation

Yarborough Applegate

291 East Bay Street
Floor 2
Charleston, SC 29401 Visit website

Details

David Lail’s practice focuses on helping people that have experienced a life-changing event or crisis and found themselves with a real fight on their hands – a fight that many times involves powerful and connected interests on the other side. Regardless of the opposition, his approach remains the same – build the strongest case possible for trial and let the results speak for themselves.

Since he began practicing law in 2011, Lail has helped achieve over $201 million on behalf of injured clients – including over $54 million in jury verdicts and more than $66 million for victims of drunk driving.

Lail devotes much of his practice representing drunk driving victims in Dram Shop Litigation and has written extensively on this niche practice area. Lail is a principal author of the book, “South Carolina Dram Shop Litigation: A Practice Guide” and is a contributing co-author of, “South Carolina Damages, Second Edition, Dram Shop Liability”, both published by the South Carolina Bar. In addition, Lail is co-author of, “Dram Shop Discovery”, published the American Association for Justice’s (AAJ) Trial Magazine.

Lail also speaks regularly on representing victims and has conducted numerous trainings, presentations, and CLEs on Dram Shop Litigation for law enforcement agencies, the South Carolina Bar, The Charleston School of Law, the South Carolina Association for Justice (SCAJ), The National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA), and Strafford Publications. Lail was also interviewed as part of the South Carolina Business Review’s report, “Dram Shop Risk on the Rise in SC”. A recording of the interview can be heard here.  Lail has also presented courses on Wrongful Death and Catastrophic Injury Cases, Insurance Bad Faith, Jury Trial Techniques, Depositions Tactics, and Mediation Practices.

As a lawyer advocate for victims, Lail is a Board Member of MADD South Carolina, a member of The National Crime Victim Bar Association, The National Organization for Victim Assistance (VOCA), The National Alliance of Victims’ Rights Attorneys & Advocates (NAVRA) and he has undergone victim advocacy training through the U.S. Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime Training and Technical Assistance Center (OVC TTAC).

Lail is a member of The National Trial Lawyers: Top 100 and South Carolina Super Lawyers. Lail is also a Board Member of the South Carolina Association for Justice (SCAJ), a member of the American Association for Justice (AAJ), and he is also licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia.

David has learned that individuals who have been injured or harmed often feel powerless and faced with problems that seem insurmountable. In response, he works to solve those problems and provide the counsel needed to help his clients get their lives back on track with the remedy they deserve. David has recovered significant compensation for clients in a variety of cases including: dram shop actions, motor vehicle collisions, road defects, bad faith insurance practices, product defects, child abuse at school, nursing home negligence and abuse, medical malpractice, dog bites, and negligence by retail stores, hotels, homeowners, and school districts for premises injuries, among others.

David received a B.B.A. in Finance from the University of Kentucky, an M.B.A. from The Citadel, highest honors, and a J.D., cum laude, from the Charleston School of Law where he was an Associate Articles Editor of the Charleston Law Review, a member of the Charleston School of Law Moot Court Board, and a Teaching Fellow in the Legal Research, Analysis, and Writing Department. During his legal study, David received CALI Awards for the highest law school grade in: Torts, Legal Research, Analysis, and Writing I & II, and Pleadings & Practice.

David lives in Charleston with his wife, Lauren, and their two children, Evie and Hugh.

Practice areas

Personal Injury - General: Plaintiff

Focus areas

Animal Bites, Assault, Brain Injury, Construction Accident, Dram Shop Laws, Motor Vehicle Accidents, Personal Injury - Plaintiff, Premises Liability - Plaintiff, Slip and Fall, Trucking Accidents, Wrongful Death

  • 100% Personal Injury - General: Plaintiff

First Admitted: 2011, South Carolina

Professional Webpage: https://www.yarboroughapplegate.com/team/david-lail/

Bar/Professional Activity:
  • MADD South Carolina, Board Member
  • American Association for Justice
  • South Carolina Association for Justice, Board Member
  • The National Alliance of Victims' Rights Attorneys & Advocates, Member
  • The National Organization for Victim Assistance, Member
  • The National Crime Victim Bar Association, Member
  • David Lail serves on the Board of Governors of the South Carolina Association for Justice (SCAJ), formerly known as the South Carolina Trial Lawyers Association, 2017
Verdicts/Settlements (Case Results):
  • $550,000 Settlement - Victim of Drunk Driving (DUI) Crash, 2019
  • $200,000 Settlement - Victim of Drunk Driving (DUI) Crash, 2019
  • $225,000 Settlement - Victim of Drunk Driving (DUI) Crash, 2019
  • $1,850,000 Settlement - Dram Shop, 2018
  • $587,500 Settlement - Injury from Falling Merchandise, 2018
  • $1,790,000 Settlement - Tractor Trailer Crash, 2018
  • $2,000,000 Settlement - DUI Crash, 2018
  • $700,000 Settlement - Medical Malpractice, 2018
  • $207,500 Settlement – Trip & Fall at Government Building, 2015
  • $1,250,000 Verdict - Tree Fall Injury, 2018
  • $1,6250,000 Settlement - Dram Shop, 2018
  • $4,000,000 Settlement - Car Crash , 2018
  • $175,000 - Settlement – Motor Vehicle Collision, 2017
  • $450,000 Settlement – Slip & Fall, 2013
  • $175,000 Settlement – Motorcycle crash, 2014
  • $275,000 Settlement – Nursing Home Neglect, 2017
  • $650,000 Settlement – Burn Injuries, 2015
  • $130,000 Settlement – Slip & Fall, 2013
  • $475,000 Settlement – Slip & Fall, 2014
  • $100,000 Settlement – Tattoo Injury, 2013
  • $305,000 Settlement – Highway Road Defect, 2016
  • $575,000 Settlement – Child Injury at Summer Camp, 2016
  • $275,000 Settlement – Ladder Collapse, 2014
  • $550,000 - Settlement - Slip and Fall at Hotel, 2017
  • $175,000 Settlement – Car Crash, 2014
  • $125,000 - Settlement – Car crash involving drunk driver, 2017
  • $535,000 Verdict – Condemnation and Inverse Condemnation, 2013
  • $150,000 Settlement – Child Injury at School, 2013
  • $500,000 Settlement – DUI Crash , 2014
  • $100,000 Settlement – Restaurant Injury, 2013
  • $1,000,000 Settlement – Civil Rights Violation (§1983), 2016
  • $1,000,000 Settlement – Traumatic Brain Injury, 2016
  • $185,000 Settlement – Trip & Fall, 2012
  • $4,250,000 Settlement – Workplace TBI & Spinal Cord Injury, 2017
  • $200,000 Settlement – Child Abuse at School, 2013
  • $300,000 - Settlement – Fall from ladder, 2017
  • $35,940,756 Verdict – Spinal Cord Injury, 2014
  • $150,000 Settlement – Trip & Fall, 2014
  • $500,000 Settlement – Boating injury, 2015
  • $125,000 Settlement – Excessive Police Force, 2014
  • $325,000 Settlement – Patio Umbrella Injury at Restaurant, 2015
  • $60,000 Settlement – Dog Bite, 2015
  • $290,000 Settlement – Car Crash, 2012
  • $1,000,000 Settlement – Child Strangulation Injury at Daycare, 2016
Special Licenses/Certifications:
  • Licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia, 2012
  • Licensed to practice law in South Carolina, 2011
Honors/Awards:
  • Recipient, South Carolina Super Lawyers
  • Top 100, The National Trial Lawyers
  • David Lail is a member of The National Trial Lawyers: Top 100.
Educational Background:
  • M.B.A. from The Citadel, 2007
  • B.B.A. in Finance from the University of Kentucky, 2001
Scholarly Lectures/Writings:
  • Author, South Carolina Damages, Second Edition, Dram Shop Liability, South Carolina Bar
  • Best practices in Dram Shop Discovery., Author, Dram Shop Discovery, American Association for Justice, 2021
  • The first South Carolina Bar publication of its kind, South Carolina Dram Shop Litigation: A Practice Guide, is a tool designed for the practitioner handling cases that are as unique as they are challenging. This book contains a concise discussion of dram shop law in South Carolina followed by a comprehensive guide to litigating these one-of-a-kind cases. With practical application as the guiding theme of the book, this valuable resource discusses the intricacies of all major components of a dram shop lawsuit as well as the strategies for handling the common, and not so common, issues along the way. This book examines dram shop litigation from both counsel tables and provides technical insight from authors that practice in this niche area on a regular basis. In addition, this book delivers analysis from experts in alcohol beverage industry standards and training practices as well as the toxicology of ethanol. Finally, this book contains a host of sample pleadings and discovery materials making it a must-have for any lawyer interested in this specific area of tort law in South Carolina, Author, South Carolina Dram Shop Litigation: A Practice Guide, South Carolina Bar, 2016

Office location for David Lail

291 East Bay Street
Floor 2
Charleston, SC 29401

Phone: 843-972-0150

Selections

4 Years Super Lawyers
6 Years Rising Stars
  • Super Lawyers: 2022 - 2025
  • Rising Stars: 2016 - 2021

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