Meet John

With more than 40 years of experience handling civil litigation matters, John Bruton's work at Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd includes numerous jury and non-jury trials, hearings and appeals. He has served as lead counsel for a wide variety of clients in federal and state court and in almost every venue in South Carolina. He has handled appeals at the South Carolina Court of Appeals, the South Carolina Supreme Court and the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. 

His practice focuses on insurance and construction cases as well as commercial litigation and the defense of personal injury lawsuits. John is also deeply involved with insurance regulation and insurance insolvency issues, serving as counsel to the South Carolina Life and Accident and Health Insurance Guaranty Association.

EXPERIENCE

• •  Construction defect claims involving multi-family buildings, high-rise condominiums, hotels, commercial office buildings and single-family homes
• •  Insurance regulation and litigation in connection with insurance guaranty associations and insurance company insolvencies
• •  Advises and assists insurers on a wide variety of matters including regulatory compliance issues
• •  Complex property damage and real estate litigation
• •  Defense of death and catastrophic injury claims

• Washington and Lee University, J.D., 1979
• University of South Carolina, B.A., 1975

• South Carolina, 1979
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit, 1979
• U.S. District Court, South Carolina, 1979

• The Best Lawyers in America© Insurance Law (2010-2025), Litigation - Construction (2013-2025), Litigation - Real Estate (2013-2025) and Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants (2013-2025)
• Best Lawyers® 2019 Litigation - Construction “Lawyer of the Year” Columbia
• Best Lawyers® 2018 Litigation - Real Estate “Lawyer of the Year” Columbia
• Best Lawyers® 2014 Insurance Law “Lawyer of the Year” Columbia
• America’s Top 100 Lawyers®, South Carolina
• Columbia Business Monthly “Legal Elite of the Midlands” Business Litigation (2016, 2020)
• Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent® Rating

• South Carolina Bar
• American Bar Association, Insurance Regulation Committee
• South Carolina Defense Trial Attorneys’ Association
• Defense Research Institute
• Construction Lawyers Society of America, Fellow
• Claims and Litigation Management Alliance, Construction Litigation Committee
• Judicial Conference for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, Permanent Member