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Former Commissioner Derrick L. Williams is one of the youngest-ever to be appointed to the South Carolina Workers’ Compensation Commission. He was appointed in March 2007, and he served until January 31, 2013, when he decided to return to private practice. He is responsible for spear-heading the effort to make mediation of workers’ compensation available for complex injury by accident cases in South Carolina.

Prior to joining the South Carolina Workers’ Compensation Commission, he was an associate at a national law firm based in South Carolina. He practiced in the areas of business litigation, franchise and distribution litigation, and labor and employment. He began his legal career at a mid-size insurance defense firm, where his litigation background included defending workers’ compensation claims for insurance companies, and insurance defense litigation. As a founding partner with Williams & Roche, Derrick’s practice is devoted to representing injured workers and serving as a mediator for all civil litigation matters. Derrick is a member of the National Academy Distinguished Neutrals.

Derrick earned a Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 2002, where he was a member of the South Carolina Environmental Law Journal. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in the Honors Program at the College of Charleston in 1999. He ran Cross Country and Track for the College of Charleston, and he was the team captain of both his senior season.

Born in Florence, South Carolina he and his family moved later to Columbia, South Carolina, where he graduated from Dreher High School. He is the Past President of the Riverbanks Zoo Society Board. He is the first black President of the College of Charleston Alumni Association (now the Immediate Past President) and also serves on the College of Charleston Honors College Advisory Board and the College of Charleston English Department Alumni Advisory Board. He has previously been a member in the American Bar Association, where he was involved in the T.I.P.S. Workers’ Compensation Section. He is a member of the John Belton O’Neall American Inn of Court. Derrick also previously served on the South Carolina Board of Law Examiners. He serves on the Executive Committee for the Richland County Bar Association. He also serves on the Central Carolina Community Foundation Board, where he is the Secretary/Treasurer.

They have also motivated him to take active leadership roles in professional and community organizations; his long list of service includes: President of the South Carolina Defense Trial Attorneys' Association, Chairman of the Tort and Insurance Practice Section of the South Carolina Bar Association, Senior Director of the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel, President for the National Foundation for Judicial Excellence, President of the Mardi Gras Charity Ball of Greenville, Commissioner for City of Greenville Planning Commission, and 28 years of service in the Rotary Club of Greenville.

Tyler Lee left one of the “big firms” after fourteen years of practicing law to open Lee Injury Law in 2019, so that he could focus on what he loves doing most – helping injured people navigate the workers compensation system and get their lives back on track. He has been recognized as an AV Preeminent© Lawyer by Martindale-Hubbell, has been named to the Best Lawyers directory, has a 10 out of 10 rating with AVVO.com, and was named to the Legal Elite of the Midlands for 2019 by Columbia Business Weekly. Tyler is a regular CLE presenter on workers compensation. 

After graduating from the University of South Carolina, he began his legal studies at the University of South Carolina School of Law. While still a law student, he worked for two years as a law clerk with a prestigious Columbia firm, where he worked on personal injury, workers’ compensation, and social security disability claims. After graduating from law school, he was selected as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable James E. Lockemy, who was on the Circuit Court and later became Chief Judge of the South Carolina Court of Appeals. Tyler was next appointed an Assistant Attorney General, where he served as a prosecutor in the Internet Crimes Against Children and Violence Against Women departments.

In 2008, he began handling auto accidents, personal injury, wrongful death, and workers’ compensation cases on a full-time basis for a large local law firm, where he was eventually elected as a Shareholder. He has handled well over 2000 claims, from minor injuries to catastrophic brain and spinal injuries, and has significant courtroom training and experience.

Tyler is father to two wonderful children. He is a licensed private pilot, and enjoys BBQ cooking, fishing, hiking, mountain biking, and enjoying the outdoors.

Peter concentrates his practice in workers’ compensation and mediation, representing the rights of injured workers. Peter obtained his undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA in 1999. He was commissioned as a Special Agent for the United States Secret Service 2000. Peter was assigned to the New York Field office and served in both special protective and investigative missions for the U.S. Department of Treasury and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security while he was an agent. Peter returned home to South Carolina to attend law school and received his law degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 2007. Peter has represented clients in hundreds of workers’ compensation trials, including appeals before South Carolina Court of Appeals and the South Carolina Supreme Court. Peter has argued and litigated all types of disputed workers’ compensation matters, including occupational exposure, repetitive trauma, brain injuries as well as workers’ compensation matters that involve third party liens and subrogation claims. Peter is also a certified Circuit Court Mediator in South Carolina.

As a partner at Smith, Born, Leventis, Taylor & Vega, attorney Peter Leventis focuses his entire practice on South Carolina workers’ compensation and protecting the rights of injured workers. In 2018, he published a book titled “From Accident to Award” on South Carolina workers’ compensation laws.

“It’s my honor and privilege to help people out due to hard circumstances that are created by the complications from both medical treatment and finances in work-related matters,” said Leventis. “If we can help you, please give us a call.”

Leventis recently taught a continuing legal education (CLE) course for the S.C. State Bar Association’s “on-demand” courses. His hour-long seminar, “South Carolina Workers’ Compensation: Beyond Title 42,” is designed for South Carolina attorneys who focus on workers’ compensation. It covers a number of areas that go beyond the workers’ compensation rules and regulations outlined in Title 42 of the South Carolina Workers’ Compensation Code of Laws. Check it out or sign up for the course.