Butler Snow LLP attorneys Stephen P. Groves, Sr. and Melissa Fried Spence have been named among South Carolina’s 2024 Legal Elite for their exceptional work within the state. Groves was recognized in the Appellate category, and Spence was recognized in the Labor and Employment category. The 2024 Legal Elite is featured in Columbia Business Monthly, Greenville Business Magazine, Charleston Business Magazine and B2B: The Grand Strand. Click here to view the full list of honorees.
Groves is a member of Butler Snow’s Tort, Transportation and Specialized Litigation Group. He has a broad range of experience in civil and administrative appellate litigation, insurance coverage litigation for insurers and insured and general business litigation.
Groves is AV®-Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell® and has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America® for his appellate and insurance work. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers (AAAL) and the American College of Coverage Counsel (ACCC).
Groves is admitted to the South Carolina Bar, the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina, the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, and Federal Circuits of the U.S. Court of Appeals, and the U.S. Supreme Court. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the Council of Appellate Lawyers, the Charleston County Bar Association, the Defense Research Institute, the Federal Bar Association, the International Bar Association, and the South Carolina Bar Association. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the College of Charleston and his Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina.
Spence is a member of Butler Snow’s Labor and Employment group, where she regularly counsels clients on compliance issues and represents employers before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the South Carolina Human Affairs Commission, the U.S. Department of Labor, and in both state and federal court against lawsuits arising under Title VII, ADA, ADEA, FMLA, and the FLSA. She has extensive experience building proactive strategies that help clients avoid protracted legal disputes involving various labor and employment matters.
Best Lawyers in America® has recognized Spence for her work in labor and employment law. She was previously recognized by South Carolina Super Lawyers® as a Rising Star in Employment Litigation and honored for her commitment to the Charleston community with inclusion in the Charleston Regional Business Journal ‘Forty under 40’ list in 2020. She is also a graduate of the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce Leadership Charleston Class of 2019.
Spence currently serves as Legislative Representative of the Palmetto Society for Human Resource Management, Vice Chair of the South Carolina Bar Association’s Employment and Labor Section, and she is a member of the Charleston Legal Access Board of Directors. Additionally, Spence is a member of the International Association of Defense Counsel, South Carolina Women Lawyers Association, and Charleston County Bar Association. Spence holds a bachelor’s degree from Wofford College and earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Charleston School of Law.
