Personal Injury
When it comes time to go up against an insurance company or to face a judge or jury in criminal court, you need to know you have a straight-shooter by your side. You need to know you that your attorney has the experience, knowledge and skills to properly tackle any argument put against you.
Lori S. Murray is a Columbia, South Carolina attorney with more than 25 years of experience fighting for people when it matters most. As the founder of the Law Offices of Lori S. Murray LLC, she focuses her practice on criminal defense and personal injury — two areas where having the right advocate in your corner can change everything. Decisive, direct, and relentlessly committed to her clients, Lori brings the same passion for fairness to every case that first drew her to the law back in high school. That drive hasn’t faded over the years — if anything, it’s only grown stronger.
Lori’s path to founding her own firm was built on a foundation of diverse legal experience that few attorneys can match. She began her career in insurance defense in 1998, gaining a ground-level understanding of how insurance companies evaluate, negotiate, and fight claims — knowledge that now gives her personal injury clients a distinct edge. From there, she joined the Richland County Solicitor’s Office, where she served as an Assistant Solicitor from 2000 to 2003, prosecuting cases and learning the inner workings of the criminal justice system firsthand. She later served as of counsel at The Rutherford Law Firm before launching the Law Offices of Lori S. Murray LLC in 2002, the firm she has led ever since. That rare trifecta of experience — insurance defense, prosecution, and private practice — means Lori understands how the other side thinks, and she uses that knowledge every day on behalf of her clients.
Over the course of her career, Lori has handled more than 2,000 cases, representing clients in matters ranging from automobile accidents, medical malpractice, and wrongful death to drug charges, DUI, domestic violence, and violent and nonviolent offenses. She is known as an aggressive litigator and negotiator who doesn’t back down — whether she’s negotiating a settlement with an insurance company or standing before a judge and jury in criminal court. Clients consistently describe her as someone who treats them like family, fights like it’s personal, and delivers results. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in criminal justice from the University of South Carolina in 1993, followed by her Doctor of Jurisprudence from USC’s Joseph F. Rice School of Law in 1996 — institutions she remains proud to call home.
Lori is deeply rooted in the Midlands community and has spent her entire career serving the people of Richland County, Lexington County, Columbia, Lexington, Cayce and across the state of South Carolina. She is an active member of the South Carolina Bar Association, the South Carolina Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the DUI Defense Lawyers Association and the Richland County Bar Association. Her commitment to the community goes beyond the courtroom — it’s reflected in the trust her clients place in her and the lasting relationships she has built across South Carolina over nearly three decades of practice.
That dedication has earned Lori some of the legal profession’s most respected recognition. She has been named one of the Top 100 Trial Lawyers by the National Trial Lawyers organization, recognized as an Elite Attorney by her peers for over five consecutive years in both personal injury and criminal law, honored with the Distinguished Alumni Award from Williamsburg Academy, and selected for inclusion in Marquis Who’s Who Top Lawyers. She has also been recognized by Marquis Who’s Who for her dedication, achievements, and leadership in law.
For Lori, though, the most meaningful recognition will always come from the clients she has helped — the charges dropped, the settlements won, and the lives changed along the way.
I’m decisive, direct and down to earth. I’m also a fighter—I don’t let people take advantage of my clients or me. I value realness in myself and in those around me.
