About Dana Adkins And Team
When you choose to work with us, your journey to justice begins with a personal touch. Dana ensures that your first contact is with her directly, even accommodating evening and weekend appointments. Our commitment to you extends beyond just legal expertise – we provide meaningful, free initial consultations, treat you like family, and meticulously attend to the smallest details of your case to secure the best possible outcome.
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Dana Adkins, Trial Attorney & Unbreakable Advocate
Dana is a sophisticated player with a bit of street fighter in her. She argues on behalf of our clients with an intellect that is as tall as she is not. Her dad always said she is smart like a fox.
Her list of accomplishments is ridiculously impressive, like compelling an auto insurance company to re-write their policy to include underinsured motorist coverage after a catastrophic motorcycle wreck. Not to mention she was a Molecular Biologist before she went to law school, and was the first person in her family to graduate from college.
Dana has a distinctively lively personality and is aggressively passionate about the things she believes in. But, if you want to wear her down, just mention her two pups and she'll turn into putty. While her roots are in WV, Dana's called Charleston home for more than 20 years.
“To laugh often and much: To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you lived. This is to have succeeded.”
Crystal Santamaria, Paralegal & Smiling Assassin
Crystal embodies the perfect combination of absolute loveliness, the sharpest of intellects, and a deep social conscience. She doesn't miss a thing and digs deep when it comes to the intricacies of the law, producing perfectly formed answers that a normal person could only unearth with an excavator.
Crystal looks after our clients with extreme efficiency and a smile that's been declared a National Treasure. She's also the one ticking all the boxes as documents and dollars fly in every direction.
Every day Crystal proves that she really can do it all - just ask about her kids and she'll beam with pride. While she calls Spartanburg home now, Crystal holds her heritage close to heart and is always available to help our Spanish-speaking clients feel at home.
Crystal is a member of the SCAJ Paralegal Section. This past spring she participated in a seminar focussed on calculating and arguing damages in complex litigation and best ethical practices.
The Community We Believe In.
Browse through some of the things that we participate in, in the community and the organizations we believe in.
American Association for Justice & South Carolina Association for Justice
This past spring, Dana participated in the AAJ Women Trial Lawyers Caucus Lobby Days in DC. We met with the SC Legislative Delegation to ask them to support a bill to end forced arbitration in racial discrimination cases (a bill was passed with bipartisan support last year ending it for sexual discrimination cases).
Read more about the importance of the legislation here »Dana also participates in the annual convention each summer and the auto torts conference each winter put on by the South Carolina Association for Justice. These are multi-day events that bring together the state's trial lawyers for training on legal issues and technology advances, and relationship building and explain how that helps their case.
Dana served as a volunteer attorney at Charleston Halos to help kinship caregivers of abused and neglected children.
Dana teamed up with her close friend, Rachael, to open Green Girl Living, an online store that sells environmentally conscious products that are hand-made by Dana and Rachael.
Dana posed with some of her closest friends from law school, after recording an episode of Direct Examination: A South Carolina Law Podcast.
Dana was profoundly moved when she traveled to Atlanta, Georgia to visit the National Center for Civil and Human Rights Museum.
Dana teamed up with her close friend, Rachael, to open Green Girl Living, an online store that sells environmentally conscious products that are hand-made by Dana and Rachael.
Dana was invited to attend the Emily's List reception at the 2016 Democratic Party National Convention in celebration of women breaking through the glass ceiling.
Dana passionately supports Charleston Pro Bono Legal Services. As a volunteer attorney, she has helped fulfill their mission to ensure that the doors of justice are open to all, regardless of income. Also, Dana and Attorney Gregory Forman co-authored the guide - Family Court 101: How to Represent Yourself in Family Court, which they presented to members of the community in a seminar intended to provide practical experience and training to pro se litigants.
Heirs property is a major concern in South Carolina. Dana strongly believes that families should have a fair chance to keep their families' land and build generational wealth.
Dana is devoted to her pups and a faithful supporter of many local rescues. Our Case Manager, Amanda, is also a devout animal-lover, and fosters for Carolina Coonhound Rescue, in Charleston, SC.
Dana is proud of her work as an attorney advocate for transgender rights in the Family Courts of South Carolina.
Dana renewed her commitment to advancing women in politics as a founding supporter of Emerge South Carolina.
Dana was honored to serve on the BOD for her alma mater.
The Kennedy Forum
“I have never abused drugs. Still, drug abuse is as much of a factor in shaping who I am now as was law school or anything that I have achieved. My brother and I grew up in a loving home, knowing we were the center of our dad's universe. We also knew our dad fought the demons of addiction, which feed on poverty, chronic pain, and depression.
As my brother and I came of age, my brother utilized what he had learned, what he had seen done to ease his own depression. He was 26 when he died from a drug overdose. My dad, heartbroken by the loss of my brother and his body wrecked from his own years of drug abuse, died just a short time later.
Loving someone who is addicted to drugs is one of the hardest things you will ever do. You know they are always on the edge of a dangerous cliff. All you want is to help them back to a clean & sober life, back to their potential. I believe with all of my heart that if my brother had been able to receive mental health care for depression and substance abuse he would still be here today. The same may also be true for my dad. They both died too young from an illness that is treatable with the proper resources.
I support The Kennedy Forum, because they are working to lift the stigma of mental health and substance abuse, and to require insurance companies to pay for treatment, including enforcement of The Federal Parity Law, which requires most insurers to cover illnesses of the brain, such as depression and addiction, no more restrictively than illnesses of the body, such as diabetes or cancer.”
~Dana
