About Peter David Brown

Peter attended Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, Georgia. During law school Peter served as a student representative, Vice President and ultimately the President of the Student Bar Association. Between his first and second year of law school, Brown clerked for the Chief Administrative Judge of the Fulton County Superior Court, The Honorable Ralph Hicks.

In 1988, upon graduation, Brown accepted the offer of full time employment as an insurance defense attorney at the same firm.

Brown handled primarily personal injury lawsuits and defended workers’ compensation claims. These initial experiences “on the other side of the fence” have proven invaluable.

Peter was taught how insurance companies (adjusters) and their attorneys evaluate and pay personal injury claims and defend lawsuits. Brown used these defenses himself while working for the insurance companies.

In 1989 Peter David Brown and his wife Debora Brown, DPT, PT moved to Charleston. Peter is a dedicated family man. He and his wife have two children, Ellison and Peter Jr., both of whom attended public schools. Debbie, a physical therapist, is faculty at The Medical University of South Carolina. They enjoyed raising their children in the lowcountry, and spending time together. Peter has been a servant to the community since he arrived in the area. Much of his time has been spent working with youth, coaching in sports, mentoring, and serving as a role model.

Early in his career, Peter held the position of Senior Staff Attorney (1990 until 1993) at the Charleston County Public Defender’s Office in order to gain valuable trial experience. He personally handled in excess of twelve (12) murders and five hundred (500+) felonies during that time. By the end of his tenure as the Senior Staff Attorney, Brown had tried numerous major felonies ranging from murder, trafficking cocaine, armed robbery, criminal sexual conduct with a minor, failure to stop for blue light, to the relatively basic “throw down” drug cases.

Brown obtained many “not guilty” verdicts as a result of taking matters to trial in General Sessions Court. Peter Brown developed an equal passion for both criminal defense and personal injury/workers’ compensation work.

Peter opened his own law firm in 1993, handling personal injury, workers’ compensation and of course, criminal matters. Peter has been serving the citizens of South Carolina since that time with commitment, professionalism and personalized service. Peter personally appears in Court or at hearings on average, two to three times per week throughout the state. It is his preference to handle these appearances himself rather than through associates.

Peter David Brown’s successful defense in State v. Williams, 351 S.C. 591, 571 S.E.2d 703 (Ct. App. 2002), in which he prevailed both at trial and before the South Carolina Court of Appeals, has served as a precedent-setting case limiting the detention of individuals and the scope of police stops in South Carolina.

State v. Williams called into question the stop of two vehicle occupants and the officers’ subsequent questioning of those individuals in an effort to obtain consent to search the vehicle. Although the officers ultimately obtained consent, their methods were exposed through Brown’s cross-examination.

Brown successfully challenged the constitutionality of the stop and the subsequent questioning of the vehicle’s two occupants, which led to the search and seizure of twenty-five (25) pounds of high-grade marijuana. He filed a motion to suppress the marijuana, arguing that the stop and detention violated constitutional protections. His argument was well-founded and supported by existing U.S. Supreme Court precedent, as well as several South Carolina cases that he cited.

The trial judge granted Brown’s motion to suppress, and the marijuana trafficking charges were dismissed. The Solicitor’s Office appealed, but a three-judge panel of the South Carolina Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s ruling. The State then sought review by the full Court of Appeals, which unanimously affirmed the decision.