(803) 771-8000
LEWIS BABCOCK
  • Practice Areas
    • Business Disputes
    • Class Action Lawsuit
    • Eminent Domain >
      • Eminent Domain Procedure
      • Carolina Crossroads
    • Professional Negligence
    • Appellate Practice
  • Attorneys
    • Keith Babcock
    • Joseph Berry
    • Ariail King
    • David Paavola
  • News & Insights
  • About
    • About Us
    • Cam Lewis
    • FAQs
  • Contact

Attorneys

​David Paavola

Partner
​D: (803) 733-3512
​(803) 771-8000
  Email
  vCard
  LinkedIn
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
About
David Paavola grew up in Juneau, Alaska and went to college in Waco, Texas at Baylor University.  He began his professional career in commercial banking and finance in upstate New York and then in Indianapolis, Indiana.  He and his wife settled in Columbia, South Carolina in 2008, where he worked for AgFirst Farm Credit Bank as a credit analyst before attending law school.  David believes the seven years he spent working in banking and finance prior to law school gives him a unique perspective and approach for his business clients.

David Paavola represents individuals and businesses in eminent domain and condemnation, complex business disputes, professional misconduct, legal malpractice, contract disputes, financial services litigation, and wage and hour law litigation.  David also represents clients in appellate cases. He has been selected to the South Carolina Super Lawyers® Rising Star list, which honors attorneys who have practiced 10 years or less, each year from 2019 through 2022. 

David Paavola received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Financial Services and Planning from Baylor University in 2002, and a Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 2012.  During law school, David served as the Editor in Chief of the South Carolina Law Review.  Prior to attending law school, David worked in the financial services industry as a commercial and agricultural loan credit analyst in upstate New York and Columbia, South Carolina, and also as an analyst at a fixed income investment management company in Indianapolis, Indiana.

​Prior to practicing at Lewis Babcock, David served as an Assistant Attorney General in the Consumer Protection and Antitrust Section of the Office of the South Carolina Attorney General.  In that role, David worked to protect South Carolina consumers from unfair, deceptive, or anticompetitive trade practices through enforcement of the South Carolina Unfair Trade Practices Act and the South Carolina Antitrust Act.  David began his legal career working for a national firm in its pharmaceutical and medical device litigation practice group.
Education
Baylor University, B.B.A., 2002
  • Financial Management Association National Honor Society
  • Beta Gamma Sigma

University of South Carolina School of Law, J.D., Magna Cum Laude, 2012
  • Editor in Chief, South Carolina Law Review Volume 63
  • Judicial Intern to the Honorable Margaret B. Seymour
  • Judicial Intern to the Honorable Henry F. Floyd
  • Order of the Coif
  • Order of the Wig and Robe
  • I Know Exactly What You Mean: Recognizing the Danger of Coded Appeals to Religious Prejudice in Capital Cases, 62 S.C. L. Rev. 639 (2011).
BAR ADMISSIONS
​South Carolina, 2012
U.S. District Court, District of South Carolina, 2013
U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit, 2016
​​
professional membership
South Carolina Bar Association
Professional Responsibility Committee (2017 – Present)
Judicial Qualifications Committee (2015 – Present)
Leadership Academy (2018)
Young Lawyers Division, Color of Justice Committee (2016-2017) - Committee Co-chair, 2016-17 Bar Year

Co-chair Spartanburg Color of Justice Program, 2016 & 2017
Awarded Star of the Quarter 2016-2017 Bar Year
South Carolina Trial Advocacy Incubator Program Participant (2013/2014)
Federal Bar Association
South Carolina Chapter, Civics Liaison, 2016-2017
American Bar Association
Young Lawyers Division, Content Editor 2015-2016 Bar Year
South Carolina Association for Justice
​Richland County Bar Association
professional experience
  • Assistant Attorney General in Consumer Protection & Antitrust Section, Office of the South Carolina Attorney General, 2015-2016
  • Attorney, Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP, 2012-2015
publications & Presentations
  • Presenter, South Carolina Easements, Rights-of-Way, and Eminent Domain (Jan. 2022)
  • Presenter, The Carolina Crossroads Project: How will it impact you? (Sept. 2020)
  • Contributing author to Chapter on Securities Laws, as included in 2017 supplement to South Carolina Damages
  • Co-author, Key E-Discovery Considerations in Patent Litigation, Law360 (March 2014)
  • Co-author, Do “Twiqbal” Standards Apply to a State Court Complaint That Has Been Removed to Federal Court?, IADC Newsletter (September 2013)
community involvement
  • Central South Carolina Habitat for Humanity, Board President​

Attorneys

  • Keith Babcock
  • Joseph Berry
  • Ariail King
  • David Paavola

Best Lawyers 2020
Martindale-Hubbell Award 2020
super lawyers award 2020
Picture
Picture

FAQs
​Disclaimer
​Site Map

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Law Offices of Lewis Babcock
Lewis Babcock L.L.P.
1513 Hampton St.
Columbia, SC 29201
(803) 771-8000 (p)

© COPYRIGHT 2021 LEWIS BABCOCK L.L.P. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Practice Areas
    • Business Disputes
    • Class Action Lawsuit
    • Eminent Domain >
      • Eminent Domain Procedure
      • Carolina Crossroads
    • Professional Negligence
    • Appellate Practice
  • Attorneys
    • Keith Babcock
    • Joseph Berry
    • Ariail King
    • David Paavola
  • News & Insights
  • About
    • About Us
    • Cam Lewis
    • FAQs
  • Contact