Richard Mark Gergel

Richard Gergel
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina
Assumed office
August 9, 2010
Appointed by Barack Obama
Preceded by Henry Herlong
Personal details
Born (1954-08-14) August 14, 1954
Columbia, South Carolina, U.S.
Spouse(s) Belinda Gergel
Alma mater Duke University

Richard Mark Gergel (born August 14, 1954) is a South Carolina lawyer and federal judge on the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina.

Early life and education

Born in Columbia, South Carolina, Gergel earned a B.A. from Duke University in 1975 and a law degree from Duke University School of Law in 1979.[1][2]

Professional career

From 1979 until 1980, Gergel served as a law clerk for a law firm in Columbia, South Carolina, and he was a partner with the firm from 1981 until 1982. Beginning in 1983, and continuing until his nomination to the district court, he was the president and partner with his own law firm (most recently known as Gergel, Nickles and Solomon) in Columbia. He has specialized in personal injury law.

Gergel was the attorney representing the South Carolina Education Association and public school teacher Maggi Hall when her First Amendment Rights were denied her by her Superintendent William Foil of Mullins SC. The case went to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond VA and was considered one of the most important First Amendment cases to come down from the 4th Circuit in over a decade.

The case, Hall vs. Marion School District 2, 1994, upheld the lower court's decision that Mullins District 2 acted illegally in firing Hall for exercising free speech in criticizing her superintendent and school board for reckless spending.

Hall published AFFIRMED: Teachers As Citizens in 2006, detailing her account of harassment by the public school superintendent Bill Foil, school principal Cindy LeGette, Mullins school teachers, the Mullins School Board, and the Marion County School Board. Visit www.FirstAmendmentRights.org to order a copy of this intriguing and significant story.

Federal judicial service

On December 22, 2009, President Obama nominated Gergel to serve on the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, to fill the seat vacated by Judge Henry Michael Herlong, Jr., who assumed senior status on June 1, 2009.[1][3][4] In his questionnaire to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Gergel wrote that South Carolina Democratic Congressmen John M. Spratt, Jr. and Jim Clyburn both previously had recommended Gergel to Obama as a district court nominee, and that South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham also supported the nomination. Gergel had a hearing before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary on April 16, 2010. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on August 5, 2010,[5] and received commission on August 9, 2010.

References

External links

Legal offices
Preceded by
Henry Herlong
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina
2010–present
Incumbent
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