Managing attorney for the liability department of Vernis & Bowling’s Columbia office, Bias displays impressive work inside the courtroom, but he is being honored for the lives he’s touched away from the bench.
Bias believes in giving back to his community and has volunteered as an attorney coach for Middle and High School Mock Trial teams since 2008. He started his alma mater Richland Northeast High School’s Mock Trial Team and coaches the USC Black Law Student Mock Trial Team. In the YLD, Bias has previously served as co-chair for the Protecting Our Youth Committee. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of South Carolina School of Law.
“On any given Saturday or Sunday, high schoolers, their parents and their siblings are spending hours with Joseph learning about the law, and perhaps, more importantly about what being a young lawyer in South Carolina means,” says Laura Robinson, a colleague at Vernis & Bowling, who nominated Bias for the award.
That impact is far-reaching, adds Brett Bayne, another colleague.
“Joseph’s hard work and diligent effort have seen countless students graduate high school, go to college and even go to law school—accomplishments that are unquestionably driven by the mentorship and compassion he showed to his students,” Bayne says.