✏️ Legal Pad

This week, the Supreme Court heard arguments in Chiles v. Salazar, a case that could redraw the boundary between speech and professional regulation in counseling. The question: can a state ban licensed therapists from offering conversion “therapy” to minors, or does that cross the First Amendment line by censoring speech?

Colorado passed a law in 2019 that prohibits licensed mental-health professionals from trying to change a minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Supporters say the law protects vulnerable youth and falls within the state’s power to regulate health care. The challengers respond that the law punishes the viewpoint expressed in therapy — that talk therapy is speech, not conduct.

Several justices pressed Colorado’s attorney on whether banning counseling on certain topics amounts to viewpoint discrimination. Others questioned whether regulating professional speech differs from regulating harmful medical procedures. However the Court rules, its decision will ripple beyond Colorado. Twenty states have similar laws, and the ruling could reshape how much freedom states have to regulate licensed professionals when speech is involved.

It’s a reminder that in law, as in life, words matter — not just what’s said, but who gets to decide what can be spoken which, regardless of where you fall on the issue, can have significant (and, perhaps, unintended) consequences.

💡 Sidebar

Downtown Greenville turns into something special this weekend with the return of the annual Fall for Greenville festival. Streets lined with vendors, the smell of smoked wings and street tacos drifting through the air, guitars echoing off brick walls and kids weaving through the throngs of people make the crowds that descend upon downtown somehow feel more like neighbors than strangers.

It’s the kind of event that reminds you why this city works: community built on simple things done well — good food, good music, and good company. Thousands of people being together without an agenda, just enjoying the weekend.

In law, we spend a lot of time, most of our time really, focused on conflict — the disputes, the arguments, the tension between two sides. But weekends like this one are a reminder of what the work is really for. The cases we handle, the rights we fight over — they’re all in service of something quieter: a life that allows for joy, connection, and a good meal under a string of lights.

So if you’re downtown this weekend, take a walk, try that sample, listen to a band you’ve never heard before. The conflicts, necessary as they are, will be there Monday. For now, let Greenville be what it’s best at being — a little loud, a little messy, but undeniably energetic.

⚖️ Closing Arguments

Last weekend’s Greenville County Bar Association BBQ Cook-Off didn’t end with a trophy for May It Please The Pork, but it did end with a few good lessons — and even better company. We got to spend a day with family, friends, and colleagues sharing recipes, techniques and, most importantly, time. I’ve always liked the saying, “I either win or I learn.” It’s simple, but it carries more truth than most maxims hanging on office walls.

That’s as true in the courtroom as it is in the cook tent. You can prepare meticulously — the recipe, the timeline, the rub — and still have something turn out in a way that doesn’t carry the day. Trials work the same way. You can have the facts, the law, and a great presentation, and still get a verdict that doesn’t go your way. But if you treat every loss as tuition instead of failure, you get sharper, steadier, and more resilient with every round.

The best trial lawyers — and the best pitmasters — share one trait: they never stop adjusting. Every case, every rack of ribs, teaches you something. Temperature control. Timing. When to press and when to let the process do its work. You only fail when you stop learning.

So we’ll fire up the smoker again next year. And in the meantime, we’ll take that same mindset back to the courtroom — steady hands, open mind, eyes on the long game. Here’s to lessons that don’t go up in smoke.

Court is in recess- see you next Friday.