Our People

Attorney J. Edward Bell III, the founder of the Bell Legal Group, has 25 years of experience with litigation. In the courtroom, he has the rare ability to communicate complex technical information in a simple, personable manner. Along with his reputation for professionalism and skill, he imparts to the firm a philosophy of close, friendly, personal relationships with his individual clients and partner law firms.

Ed Bell was born in Charleston, South Carolina on May 20, 1951. As college approached, he journeyed north to Spartanburg, South Carolina in order to attend Wofford College . Quickly graduating in 1975 with a B.A. in Government and a minor in the foreign languages of Chinese and French, he turned his sights to law school. Heading back down the road, he stopped in Columbia, South Carolina at the University of South Carolina School of Law. During law school, Ed applied his undergraduate degree while working with Senator Strom Thurmond; serving as his personal aid for four years. In 1978, Ed Bell graduated and accepted an associate position with the Weinberg Law Firm in Sumter, South Carolina .

Concentrating on personal injury law and criminal law with the Weinberg Law Firm gave Ed Bell the ability to understand the impact he could have on the community. Along with an expansive case load, Mr. Bell had other things on his mind. Within the next few years, he established a program in Sumter for juveniles who had tumultuous pasts. This program allowed youth to serve the community under the guidance of a caring adult.

In 1983, the Bell Law Firm was established in Sumter, South Carolina . The firm expanded to Georgetown, South Carolina in 1996, and is now a national practice. The Bell Law Firm relies largely on referrals from attorneys handling complex cases that are within the firm's line of expertise. To pursue the large-scale cases that the Bell Legal Group handles, it owns a unique reserve of capital and resources. In the firm's past litigation against the Ford Motor Company, the firm spent millions of dollars compiling literally millions of documents, accessing information that the company very skillfully tried to keep hidden.

In 2005, the firm changed its name to the Bell Legal Group. The firm and Ed Bell have a reputation of devotion and success. He has personally tried over 40 cases to a verdict over one million dollars. This includes receiving the largest medical malpractice verdict ever delivered in Georgia .

The Bell Legal Group specializes in Auto Torts, Auto Defect, Medical Malpractice, Police and Jail Misconduct, Personal Injury, and Real Estate. Along with having the Vehicle Safety Research Center in Georgetown, South Carolina, in which the firm maintains its own team of technicians and engineers that are especially equipped to assist with the Auto Tort and Auto Defect claims; there is a research center in Washington D.C. aimed at collecting automobile manufacturer research.

Ed Bell is a member of the South Carolina Bar Association, American Bar Association, American Association for Justice, Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, is admitted to practice with the United States Supreme Court and has tried many cases in many different states all over the country.

When not in the courtroom, Mr. Bell enjoys spending time with his wife Dawn, four children; Gigi, Virginia, Caroline and young Jeb. He remains active in the Georgetown community and in the Methodist church.