Jody McKnight

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

ABOUT JODY MCKNIGHT

Mr. McKnight focuses primarily on serious personal injury and wrongful death cases, including auto accidents, work injuries, product liability and boating accidents. He has litigated and tried numerous cases before juries in the Circuit Courts for the State of South Carolina, and in the United States District Court. He has been a member of the South Carolina Association for Justice (SCAJ) since 1992, when he began as a student member while in law school. He served on the Board of Governors for SCAJ for six consecutive years, from 2002 though 2008. He continues to be an active member of the SCAJ, and the Southern Trial Lawyers Association (STLA). He was nominated and selected to be a member of the National Trial Lawyers in 2011, 2012, and 2013, which chooses the “Top 100\" trial lawyers from each state. He was selected by his peers to be a member of Superlawyers, an organization that ranks some of the most prominent, accomplished lawyers in each state, 2008, 2009, 2012, and 2013. Mr. McKnight has been involved in the Community, serving as a Board Member and later, President, of the Coastal Crisis Chaplaincy, from 2002 through 2008; and the Dowtown Charleston Rotary Club, 2004 through 2006.The McKnight Law Firm is involved in the Charleston Community, an annual supporter of the Charleston Moves non-profit organization that advocates for cycling and pedestrian access and safety. Mr. McKnight has also argued cases before the South Carolina Court of Appeals and South Carolina Supreme Court, which resulted in victories for his clients and published decisions that set legal precedent in South Carolina. Most notably, in the case of James v. Anne’s Inc, 386 S.C. 326, 688 S.E.2d 56•••10), rev’d on reh’g, 390 S.C. 188, 701 S.E.2d. 73•••10), the South Carolina Supreme Court reversed it’s original 3-2 decision into a unanimous 5-0 victory in favor of Mr. McKnight’s client. This decision eliminated a legally impermissible extra-judicial negotiation model, where South Carolina’s disabled workers were routinely forced to abandon rights and remedies afforded under the South Carolina Workers’ Compensation Act.On July 23, 2025, the South Carolina Supreme Court rendered a landmark decision related to the \"economic loss rule\" in Carroll v. Isle of Palms Pest Control et. al, 446 S.C. 177, 918 SE2d 53•••25), in favor of Mr. McKnight\'s client, a decision that clarified the scope of the economic loss rule, and re-iterated the traditional line between tort and contract remedies for contract litigants.