Marlon Emil Kimpson

Marlon Kimpson represents victims of corporate malfeasance, from investors in securities fraud cases to consumers harmed by large data and privacy breaches, as well as people injured or killed in catastrophic incidents.

Building upon the firm’s relationships with unions and governmental entities, Marlon represents individuals, state and municipality pension funds, multi-employer plans, unions and other institutional investors in securities fraud class actions and in mergers and acquisition cases, seeking asset recovery and improved corporate governance. Marlon’s advocacy and leadership extends beyond the courtroom, including his appointment by President Biden in 2023 to serve on the White House Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations.

Marlon litigated securities cases including: In re Atheros Communications, Inc., Shareholder Litigation; In re Celera Corporation Shareholder Litigation; In re RehabCare Group, Inc. Shareholders Litigation; In re Coventry Healthcare, Inc., Shareholder Litigation; and In re Big Lots, Inc., Shareholder Litigation. In 2020, Marlon, as local counsel, helped negotiate a $192 million settlement* for institutional investors in In re SCANA Corporation Securities Litigation, a complex securities fraud matter related to alleged misrepresentations and omissions concerning the design, construction, and abandonment of SCANA’s nuclear construction project in South Carolina. It is the largest securities class action recovery ever obtained in the District of South Carolina, the fifth largest securities class action recovery in the history of the Fourth Circuit, and among the top 100 securities class action recoveries nationwide. In 2017, he helped secure a $16 million settlement* to resolve shareholders’ claims in Epstein v. World Acceptance Corp. et al., which alleged that World Acceptance misled investors about its lending practices and compliance with federal law. Marlon now represents shareholders as co-lead counsel in a federal derivative suit that alleges Wells Fargo and a number of the bank’s executives breached their fiduciary duty by failing to address alleged discriminatory lending and hiring practices that negatively affected minority borrowers and employees.

Outside of his securities work, Marlon is co-lead counsel and a member of the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee for multidistrict litigation, In re: Blackbaud Inc. Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, filed in the District of South Carolina for consumers affected by a 2020 ransomware attack and resulting data breach that targeted software company Blackbaud. Marlon has been retained by Charleston County School District to represent it against social media platforms such as Meta, Instagram, Snapchat, and Tik Tok, which allegedly designed defective products that encourage addictive behavior in adolescents and result in emotional and physical harms, including death.

Marlon also represents dozens of governmental entities, including states, counties, cities, towns, and townships in litigation targeting the alleged deceptive marketing and over-distribution of highly addictive opioid drugs, a contended cause of the nationwide opioid crisis. His work includes helping to secure over $500 million* for opioid abatement in the State of South Carolina.

Marlon started his legal career litigating cases on behalf of workers harmed by asbestos exposure across the country. He has also represented victims of catastrophic personal injury, wrongful death and aviation disasters, including commercial and charter aviation cases with clients, defendants and accidents involving multiple countries. He was also instrumental in the Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill settlements claims programs on behalf of people and businesses.

Marlon is a former South Carolina State Senator for District 42, and represented citizens of Charleston and Dorchester Counties for nearly a decade. A frequent speaker, Marlon has presented at seminars and conferences across the country, including the Public Funds Summit, the National Association of State Treasurers, the South Carolina Black Lawyers’ Association, the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems (NCPERS) and the National Association of Securities Professionals (NASP).

After five years in commercial banking, Marlon entered the field of law and served as a law clerk to Judge Matthew J. Perry of the U.S. District Court of South Carolina. His legal work and volunteer service also earned him the University of South Carolina School of Law bronze Compleat Award in 1999.

Marlon is active in his community and has held leadership roles with the University of South Carolina Board of Visitors, the Charleston Black Lawyers Association and the South Carolina Election Commission. In 2017, the American Association of Justice Minority Caucus awarded Marlon with its Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr. Soaring Eagle Award reserved for lawyers of color who have made outstanding contributions to the legal profession and paved the way for others. He is a lifetime member of the NAACP and a member of Sigma Pi Phi Boule and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.

* Please remember that every case is different. Any result we achieve for one client in one matter does not necessarily indicate similar results can be obtained for other clients.

Awards, Accolades & Recognitions

Best Lawyers

Charleston, SC
2015-2026 Mass tort litigation/class actions - plaintiffs

2025-2026 Litigation - Securities

2025-2026 Securities/Capital Markets Law

Lawdragon

2019-2026 Lawdragon 500 Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers
Aviation, Consumer Fraud, Personal Injury

2019-2025 Lawdragon 500 Plaintiff Financial Lawyers
Securities, Whistleblower, Consumer Fraud

South Carolina Lawyers Weekly

2018 Leadership in Law Honoree

American Association for Justice

2017 Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr. Soaring Eagle Award

Benchmark Plaintiff

2012 National "Litigation Star": mass tort/product liability

2012-2014 South Carolina “Litigation Star”: environmental, mass tort, securities

Coastal Conservation League

2016 Coastal Stewardship Award

Blog Posts

May 18, 2017

Shareholder Activism: An Investment Opportunity Causes, Not Just Cases

by: Marlon E. Kimpson

News

May 15, 2026

Federal Court Approves $110 Million Wells Fargo Shareholder Derivative Settlement

by: Motley Rice

April 27, 2026

How Civil Litigation Helped Build Safer Workplaces-and Why It Still Matters

by:
Jacob R. Stout