This has been an incredible week here in my hometown of Columbia, SC as well as other areas of our state. As everyone knows, we had enormous devastation, loss of life, and horrendous damage to property. I am heartbroken for my neighbors to the east of my residence who have suffered the most in the Gills Creek Watershed area. I happen to serve on the Board of the Gills Creek Watershed Association and maybe out of this tragedy our voices will be heard that we must develop commercially and residentially in an environmentally responsible manner around Gills Creek. We also need governmental and private focus on reviving one of the most impaired waterway systems in the United States!

 

I have been most impressed by the coordinated efforts of the South Carolina Emergency Management Division (SCEMD), the local law enforcement agencies, the firemen, the EMS workers, the National Guard, etcetera, etcetera.

 

The volunteer spirit of my fellow citizens has been perhaps the most incredible! My son Mac deviated from his normal exercise bike route yesterday and went through the vicinity of Lake Katherine and the Kilbourne Road area and saw literally hundreds of volunteers out on the street assisting those who have lost everything.

The spirit of Columbia is alive and well.
COLUMBI –YEAH!

 

Today’s KellyGram is on the devastating loss of Forest Acres Police Officer Greg Alia. I was in the gym when the fatal shooting occurred, but I live very close by (I can hit a golf ball from my front yard into Forest Acres, although I live in the City of Columbia). We at the Mike Kelly Law Group are profoundly saddened by Wednesday’s tragic event. He was the perfect American story. A young man who grew up, was a Boy Scout, attended college, got married and had started a family. He was pursuing his passion to be a police officer and was serving the people of Forest Acres with distinction.

Last summer, my son, Mac, and I were returning from the golf course in my Mustang convertible when we were stopped by Officer Alia. I had an out-of-date decal on my license plate and he gave me a ticket. It was the most courteous traffic stop that I ever participated in. He told me that if I would show up at court with proof that I had a renewed tag then he would drop the ticket (which he did). He was an asset to his family, the City of Forest Acres and mankind. Please consider assisting his family by going to the Greg Alia Memorial gofundme page that has been set up for them.
https://www.gofundme.com/rw5b9wbc

   

Approximately a month ago, Tad McLeod left the Mike Kelly Law Group to join his family’s law firm, The McLeod Law Group, who were opening a branch in Columbia. Tad’s family is one of the most distinguished in the state of South Carolina and he comes from a long line of lawyers, legislators and civic leaders. Although we miss Tad, I was proud of the manner in which he exited our law firm and I fully support his decision to join a family tradition: families are important!

 

I am pleased that Tad’s replacement is on board and in her second week at the Mike Kelly Law Group. Her name is Jamie Smith, and she hails from Rock Hill, SC.  She has previous experience in the litigation arena. Jamie is a graduate of the University of South Carolina School of Law with an undergraduate Bachelor of Science magna cum laude in International Business and Marketing. She is joining the litigation team with Brad Hewett and myself.

 

Welcome aboard, Jamie!  We are so happy to have you on our team!

   

Today’s KellyGram will be about my friend Chef Ryan. I have known Ryan Whittaker, the Executive Chef and Owner of my favorite restaurant/bar in Columbia (which is actually in West Columbia near the river right across the Gervais Street Bridge) @116 Espresso & Wine Bar, for many years. I have grown to love Ryan and his family in many ways. He and his wife Cheryl along with his faithful manager and one of the best bartenders in town Ryan Ditman were also very close to my late wife Anne. On the day of her funeral, they closed the restaurant and put on a wonderful reception in my church’s parish hall and although I have asked, I have yet to receive a bill. Ryan is an extremely creative chef and a very hard worker who thinks outside the box. In addition to dinner Tuesday through Saturday, he hosts Columbia’s best brunch on Saturday and Sunday starting at 10am with the last seating at 2:30pm. Besides dinner and brunch at the restaurant, Chef Ryan has a wonderful catering business and sometimes I joke with him that he loves the catering side more than the restaurant. He has catered many events for me and my late wife and will always be my “go to” caterer.

Ryan also donates his time, talent and treasure to support non-profits at his expense. He does several events a year for the SC Philharmonic including their highly successful golf tournament which is taking place on September 28, 2015. He does events for MDA, Palmetto Place and the Columbia Museum of Art just to name a few. This coming Sunday night he has gone over the top with a creative event called Dinner in White, a fundraiser for the Columbia Museum of Art featuring the farewell of the world-class Andy Warhol exhibit now on display at the museum through this weekend.

Most importantly, Ryan became the proud father of his precious little girl Sage this summer. Uncle Mike is very proud!

I suggest you try out @116 Espresso & Wine Bar, but you may want to call and make reservations especially on the weekends. They are just that good! Tell them Mike sent you!

    The subject of today’s KellyGram is one of my favorites- NCAA College Football! I follow lots of sports, but my two favorites are PGA golf and college football. By the time you receive this KellyGram I will either be celebrating or crying as the USC Gamecocks played last night the college football season opener against the North Carolina Tar Heels.  The athleticism, the pageantry, the passion, the tailgating and the friendships I have made are several of the many reasons I am crazy about college football.  If you have not gotten into it, I suggest you check it out.   I have attended virtually every University of South Carolina home fall game in the last 45 years and plan to continue as long as I can put one foot in front of the other.  Go Gamecocks!  

I have two subjects to talk about on today’s KellyGram and I cannot decide which one is more important or should be first:  I drove to Fayetteville, NC on this past Wednesday to do a social security disability hearing for a very deserving lady who has lost six family members through death in the last two years including two of her three children!  Having experienced a death in my life in February 2015 I cannot  imagine the mental anguish this woman is suffering.  She could barely walk in the room and came in her pajamas!  She was profoundly in grief and I have never felt more sorry for a deserving client in my 38 years! 

 

This is the same day that the reporter and photographer were shot in my home state of Virginia. While driving home scrolling through the radio stations searching for Christian contemporary music I mistakenly came across talk radio. The commentator had a different view on the Virginia shootings. He said instead of having less guns at the scene they needed to have more guns. His theory was if the camera man would have had a gun on him while the shooter was shooting at him and the horrified reporter then he could have dropped his camera and pulled out his own gun and shot the shooter.  I don’t take political positions on the KellyGram, but I literally almost had a wreck when people in America think we need more guns.  Think about it!

       Today I want to talk about one of my real life heroes: Dustin Johnson. I deeply admire Dustin Johnson or “DJ” as he is known by his millions of fans and fellow PGA golfers. He is a product of Irmo, SC and the stellar SC junior golf program (which features many current golf stars who came through the program).  He is a superb athlete, probably could play three or four professional sports  and he grips it and rips it like John Daly used to do in his heyday.

 

        In the British Open this year Dustin was the leader in the first two rounds and then had a bad round on Saturday and appeared by numerous observers on the last day to be “going through the motions.” His score ballooned and he finished in the middle of the pack.  Fast forward to last weekend’s final major of the year at the PGA Championship Scenic Whistling Straits in Michigan. Dustin played superb and was in contention when he teed off on Sunday afternoon.  On the very first hole, he got a double par and several holes later another bogey which put him out of contention for all practical purposes. Instead of folding his tent, he showed extraordinary courage and perseverance and proceeded to shoot the low round of the day after being five strokes over par for the day in the very first five holes.

   Even though 2015 provided the biggest challenge of my life with the loss of my beloved wife Anne as well as the usual business challenges that go along with being a self-employed entrepreneur, I consider myself to be an extremely blessed man, almost beyond measure!  I cannot begin to list all of my blessings, but it starts with my faith,  my children, my work and home families and the blessing of good health. Close behind are YOU – My Clients! The legal marketplace in South Carolina has never been more crowded with lawyers competing for business, especially the attorneys who spend millions of dollars on television advertisements. The way my law firm has continued to grow and prosper is through my many thousands of  loyal clients that I have represented over these last 37 years as well as the new ones that bring their legal needs to the Mike Kelly Law Group every single day!

        I have been blessed to be an attorney helping injured, wronged and sick people for 37+ years.  Every now and then the job gets a little old with payroll, deadlines, overhead issues, and other items, but 98% of the time I LOVE my job each and every day!  Where else can you make a good living and get a chance to help people pretty much your entire day.  I have long held this conclusion, but the other day I was riding between Lancaster and Columbia and I had and “Aww Ha” moment, sort of a moment of clarity.  In the past 24 hours, I have helped a 10 year old hemophiliac  (and learned a lot about the dreaded disease of hemophilia along the way) and got a dear sweet client a $17,000 settlement on the courthouse steps when her previous counsel tried to get her to take only $4000.