Cory Patterson is Of Counsel at Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough. He earned his JD and BA, cum laude from North Carolina Central University. Cory’s first legal position out of law school was as an assistant district attorney with the Guilford County District Attorney’s Office in Greensboro/High Point, N.C. At the District Attorney’s office, Cory had the opportunity to handle and try a variety of serious criminal offenses. After several years with the District Attorney’s office, Cory was offered a position as in-house counsel for an upstarting bank, CertusBank. At Certus, Cory advised bank partners on federal bank regulations, interacted with federal and state banking regulators, and advised multiple lines of business within the bank various escalations and legal risks. After Certus, Cory joined Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd as an associate, where he established and grew a practice consisting of insurance defense, construction, and personal injury defense work. At Haynsworth, Cory had the opportunity to become an inaugural member of State Farm’s Rising Star program. Cory also served as the Co-Chair for Haynsworth’s diversity committee.
At Nelson Mullins, Cory focuses his practice on complex civil litigation, primarily bad faith insurance law, insurance coverage issues, toxic torts/asbestos, personal injury litigation, white-collar litigation, along with government and internal investigations. Cory advises insurers, transportation companies, and other businesses on business and litigation strategy. He also represents clients in personal injury cases arising from trucking and bussing accidents, premises liability, products liability, and the like. In his construction matters, Cory has represented general contractors, subcontractors, design professionals, and product manufacturers in construction defect claims in arbitrations, state and federal trial courts. Also, he has defended complex civil and criminal cases involving mail fraud, bank fraud, government contract fraud, and other federal crimes.
Cory is involved in various community service, non-profit, and pro bono endeavors. Cory is a member of the Rotary Club of Greenville, and former President of the Board for the Friends of the Greenville County Library System, board member of the Upstate Carolina Education Outreach, and a board member of the South Carolina chapter of the Federal Bar Association. Also, he is a member of the Greenville Cancer Institute Advancement Council that is responsible for raising funds to support the Prisma Cancer Institute in Greenville, South Carolina. Cory’s pro bono endeavors include representing federal inmates in cases in which their civil rights and liberties were violated. Also, representing indigent federal criminal defendants in various violations of federal laws.