Joseph Preston Strom Jr.

Joseph Preston “Pete” Strom, Jr. was born in Columbia, South Carolina in 1959. He attended the University of South Carolina and graduated in 1981 with a Bachelor of Arts. While attending the University of South Carolina, Pete served as President of Kappa Sigma Fraternity. After graduating from the University of South Carolina, Pete attended the University of South Carolina School of Law where he graduated with a J.D. in 1984.

After graduating from law school, Pete served as law clerk to the Honorable Frank Eppes, a South Carolina state trial court judge. In 1985, Pete joined the Fifth Judicial Circuit Solicitor’s Office as an Assistant Solicitor. While serving as Assistant Solicitor, Pete handled over 200 drug cases, prosecuting the largest heroin trafficking case in South Carolina at that time, a case involving over 100 grams of heroin.

After a stint in private practice, practicing as a partner in three law firms, Pete was named United States Attorney for the District of South Carolina in 1993. At the time he was appointed by Attorney General Janet Reno, Pete was the youngest U.S. Attorney in the country. As the U.S. Attorney for the District of South Carolina, Pete created the Violent Crimes Task Force in South Carolina, which Attorney General Reno referred to as “a national model for the country through a provocative violent crime initiative”.

While serving as U.S. Attorney, Pete also served on Justice Department committees relating to organized crime, white collar crime, sentencing guidelines, and juvenile justice; Pete also attended the Harvard University Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government.

Pete returned to private practice in 1996, founding the law firm of Strom Law Firm, LLC. Pete currently defends criminal cases in State and Federal courts in South Carolina, including drug crimes, drunk driving charges, criminal domestic violence charges, and allegations of mail and wire fraud. Pete also represents individuals on the civil side in the following types of cases: class actions, personal injury including traumatic injury, defective products, including defective drugs, nursing home neglect, professional license defense, and predatory lending.

Bar Admissions:

• South Carolina, 1984
• U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit, 1986
• U.S. District Court District of South Carolina, 1986

Pete has also been admitted pro hac vice in numerous federal courts, including:

• The Northern District of Florida
• The Southern District of Florida
• The Middle District of North Carolina
• The District of Connecticut
• The District of New Jersey
• The Southern District of Iowa
• The Southern District of California
• The Central District of California, and
• The Northern District of California.

Pete has also practiced in a number of other Federal Courts in Multidistrict litigation.

Honors and Awards:

• AV Peer Review Rated from Martindale-Hubbell
• Immediate Past President, South Carolina Association for Justice
• South Carolina State Delegate for the American Association for Justice
• Board Member, Heathwood Hall Episcopal School
• Board Member, South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center
• Editor, Columbia, South Carolina Injury Board

Professional Associations and Memberships:

• South Carolina Bar Association
• Richland County Bar Association
• South Carolina Criminal Defense Lawyers Association
• Fourth Circuit Judicial Conference
• National Association of Former United States Attorneys
• National Crime Victim Bar Association
• Southern Trial Lawyers Association
• South Carolina Association for Justice
• American Association for Justice