James L. Ward, Jr.

The fight is personal.

Jay Ward heads the firm’s Class Action, Mass Tort, and Government Representation practice. He has more than twenty-five years of experience litigating complex cases on behalf of individuals, classes, and governmental entities across the country.

Jay’s practice focuses on high-stakes litigation involving pharmaceutical drugs and medical devices, healthcare fraud, environmental harm, consumer protection, and large-scale construction disputes. Over the course of his career, he has served in significant leadership roles—including lead, co-lead, liaison, and steering committee positions—in complex class actions and multidistrict litigations pending in state and federal courts nationwide.

Jay is particularly well known for his class action practice. He is frequently asked to evaluate, develop, and lead complex class cases involving systemic misconduct, industry-wide practices, and widespread consumer or public harm. His class action work centers on case architecture, discovery strategy, and trial readiness, often in coordination with co-counsel across multiple jurisdictions.

A substantial portion of Jay’s work involves representing states, municipalities, and public entities as special counsel in large-scale litigation, including healthcare and environmental matters. These matters typically involve multi-jurisdictional coordination, complex discovery, and sustained trial-level engagement over the course of years.

Jay also regularly represents clients in catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death cases involving defective products and medical negligence. While these cases often differ in form from his aggregated litigation, they demand the same level of preparation, strategic focus, and trial readiness that define his broader litigation practice.

Jay is the co-editor of South Carolina Damages, the state’s leading treatise on damages law, with Edward J. Westbrook (2d ed. 2009; 2017 Supplement).

Beyond the courtroom.

Jay grew up in Saluda, South Carolina, where his parents ran a store on the town square across from the courthouse. He spent much of his childhood there, watching trials unfold and talking with the lawyers who passed through. This early education shaped his decision to pursue law.

Jay began his legal career practicing with corporate defense firms in South Carolina and North Carolina. That experience continues to shape his approach to plaintiff-side litigation, providing insight into how institutional defendants evaluate risk, develop litigation strategy, and approach resolution. He brings that perspective to every case, with an emphasis on preparation, credibility, and trial-level execution.

Beyond his case work, Jay has been deeply involved in the legal profession throughout South Carolina and nationally. He has served as President of the South Carolina Association for Justice and the James L. Petigru Inn of Court and has held numerous leadership roles within the South Carolina Bar and the American Association for Justice. He regularly lectures and writes on class actions, mass torts, damages, and trial practice.

Outside the courtroom, Jay is a founding board member of the Charleston Miracle League, a recreational baseball program he helped build from the ground up for children with physical and mental disabilities. Since 2015, Jay has led an annual fundraising campaign for Neverthirst, a nonprofit that builds clean water wells in developing countries. His efforts have funded twelve “Friends of Jay Ward” wells and water projects—six in Cambodia, four in India, one in Niger, and one in Uganda—providing safe drinking water to thousands of people.

Jay lives in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, and practices out of the firm’s Charleston-area office. He enjoys spending time with his family, fitness, boating, and traveling.