Val H. Stieglitz

Val Stieglitz represents the U.S. and foreign companies in business torts, unfair competition, commercial, intellectual property, trade secrets, insurance, and products liability litigation. His experience ranges from injunctive proceedings, through trials, mediations, arbitrations, and appeals. Val lead the firm's Business Litigation Group for 15 years, until 2017, and now chairs the firm's International Group, which assists foreign businesses with their U.S. interests. Val works regularly with lawyers and businesses in the EU, China, and elsewhere, concerning their U.S. matters, and heads the firm's China Business Group.

Val's broad case experience includes:

• Class actions;
• Business torts and contractual disputes;
• IP litigation;
• Bad faith insurance claims;
• Product liability claims involving automobile tires, hoists, forklifts, and other construction equipment, storage tanks, gasoline nozzles, cranes, nails, human tissue transplants, electrical equipment;
• UCC breach of warranty claims involving a wide variety of goods;
• Tobacco Escrow, MSA, and TTB litigation;
• Employee defection, non-compete, trade secret, fiduciary and employee loyalty claims;
• Supplier/distributor disputes;
• U.S. litigation risk management.

Val received his Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina, where he was a member of the Moot Court Board and the Order of Barristers. Prior to attending law school, he worked as a journalist for several South Carolina newspapers and operated his own statewide syndicated news service.

Val's undergraduate and graduate education was at the College of William & Mary and the University of South Carolina, where he obtained degrees in International Relations. He is currently the firm's representative to the LAWorld international law firm network, through which he actively collaborates with foreign law firms on projects involving global clients. Val chairs the firm's China Business Litigation Group and coordinates initiatives directed to assisting Chinese businesses in their US matters. The firm assists China clients in matters ranging from immigration, IP, customs/tariffs, and corporate M&A/due diligence, to all types of litigation. Val has been a frequent speaker at seminars and business meetings throughout China and works regularly with lawyers and businesses in China.

Community & Professional

• American Bar Association
• International Association of Defense Counsel
  • Former Chair, Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee
  • Former Chair, Business Litigation Committee
  • Former Chair, Intellectual Property Committee
  • Former State Membership Chair
• LAWorld, an international legal network - Two-time Board of Directors Member
• Richland County Bar Association
• South Carolina Bar

Reported Appellate Decisions:

• Degenhart v. Knights of Columbus, 420 S. E. 2nd 795 (S.C. 1992)
• United Parcel Service v. S.C. Tees, Inc., 508 S.E. 2nd 34 (Ct. App. 1998)
• Tobaccoville USA, Inc. v. McMaster, 692 S.E. 2nd 526 (S.C. 2010)
• Hansen v. Beechwood Development Group of S.C., LLC, 763 S.E. 2nd 31 (S.C. 2014)
• Hall v. Greentree Servicing, LLC, 2015 WL 4002236 (Ct. App. 2015)

• Martindale-Hubbell "AV" Preeminent Peer Review Rated
• Listed in Best Lawyers in America as "Lawyer of the Year" for Mediation in Columbia, S.C. (2023)
• Listed in Best Lawyers in America for Commercial Litigation (2013 - Present), Arbitration and Mediation (2025)
• South Carolina Super Lawyers (2009)
• "Legal Elite of the Midlands" - International Law (2012), Commercial Litigation (2015)

Val is the author of "Unfair Competition - The Migrating Insurance Agent," published as a monograph by the International Association of Defense Counsel in 1995 and The Tort Law Desk Reference - South Carolina. He is also a frequent speaker at seminars and conferences on business topics both in the U.S. and abroad.

He is a frequent contributor to IADC Committee Newsletters and CLEs as follows:

• Author, "South Carolina Decides Case of First Impression in Recurring Area of "Promoter Liability," January 2015
• "Managing the High-Emotion Case," February, 2013
• "The National Feed & Grain Association: A Little-Known ADR Forum," February, 2012.
• Author, "Update on State Statutes Restricting 'Out-of-State' Arbitrations," February 2014
• Co-Author, "An Unfortunate Surprise: When an Arbitration Agreement Exposes Your Client to the Threat of Litigation in Perpetuity," November 2012
• Co-Author, "Overcoming The Vanishing Trial: A Trial Lawyer’s Skills Are More Vital Than Ever to Success at Mediation," January 2011
• Co-Author, "Can Foreign Companies Pursue Claims in American Courts for Anticompetitive Conduct by American Companies Occurring Abroad? An Update on Recent (and Evolving) Developments," October 2012
• Co-Author, "Global Litigation Turns the Spotlight on the Forum Non Conveniens Doctrine When Foreign Plaintiffs Sue U.S. Corporations in U.S. Courts," November 2011
• Co-Author, "Human Tissue Litigation: Where is the Injury?," March 2007
• Author, "Four Practical Rules for Electronic Discovery," IADC Defense Counsel Journal, October 2005

China Seminars & Presentations:

• Yangtzejiang Legal Group Annual Conference (Harbin, 2008)
• Yangtzejiang Legal Group Annual Conference (Suzhou , 2009)
• Hong Kong - US Chamber of Commerce, 2009
• Ng & Shum Joint Seminars (Kunshan, Wuxi, 2010)
• LAWorld Annual Meeting (Beijing, 2011)
• LAWorld Annual Meeting (Hong Kong, 2014)
• DHG Resources/Investing in the U.S. (Jinan, Qingdao,Chongqing, Chengdu, 2015)
• LAWorld - Jointide Asia/Pacific Conference (Investment in the U.S. - Legal Issues & Protection) (Jinan, Qingdao, 2016)
• Zhonghao Law Firm - "Chinese Companies - Go Global" Conference (Chongqing, 2017)