Officials with SSA Marine, a private port developer, and Jasper County are questioning the legality of the Ports Authority's move to hire the firm of Nelson, Mullins, Riley and Scarborough, which worked with the developer over the course of Jasper's first attempt to build a port.
SSA Marine signed on with Jasper to build a $450 million shipping terminal more than 10 years ago, but the Ports Authority claims the county doesn't have the legal right to build the facility, and the dispute is being fought in the state Supreme Court.
But the Columbia law firm is now in the Ports Authority's camp -- with its name attached to the Jan. 19 Supreme Court lawsuit filed by the state looking to block the county's development plans.
"SSA retained the firm ... over a number of years on the Jasper County project," Kyle Lukins, SSA Marine's general counsel, said Monday. "We've taken it up with (the law firm) and the matter is unresolved."
Kevin Hall, a partner at the law firm, said Monday that he's confident in the office's move to work for the state.
"We, as a firm, evaluate situations such as this very carefully," he said. "We utilize internal critiques as well as external lawyers and law professors. We're comfortable there is no ethical issue present."
Under the South Carolina Rules of Professional Conduct, a lawyer "shall not thereafter represent another person in a same or substantially related matter," said John Freeman, a law professor at the University of South Carolina.
"The idea behind the rule if you're a lawyer and you represent someone is you cannot later take an adverse position against that person," he said.
The law firm worked on the Jasper project for SSA Marine for three-and-a-half years, ending early last year, said Jake Coakley, SSA Marine's regional vice president.
"While we were regrouping, we suspended representation and when we went back, they were unavailable," he said.
The port developer sought the firm again in mid-2004 when Jasper decided to take another stab at the project and did not learn of the firm's employment with the Ports Authority until the Supreme Court lawsuit was filed.
SSA Marine officials said Monday they were undecided whether or not to take the matter to the South Carolina Bar.