Michael J Howell

 

Michael has been a resident of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina since 1978 and is a frequent speaker on topics relating to Estate Planning and Probate. 

In 2018, he was a speaker at  South Carolina Probate Judges Bench Bar Seminar in Columbia, South Carolina on the subject of Guns in Estates.   He was also a 2016 Spearker at the South Carolina Probate Judges meeting on Hilton Head Island, South on the subject of Speical Administrators.  Prior to that he had been a speaker at a previous South Carolina Probate Judges meeting on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina on the subject of the probate problems created, if someone writes on a Will, after it has been executed.

Michael served on the Board of Governors of the South Carolina Bar from 2006-2009.  He has been a Mentor for new lawyers under the South Carolina Supreme Court's mentoring program.

For the years 1993-1996, he was a member of the South Carolina Estate Planning and Probate Law Specialization Advisory Board and was Chairman of the Advisory Board in 1995.  The Advisory Board interviews and tests attorneys wanting to become Certified Specialists in Estate Planning and Probate Law.

From 1998-2004, he was a member of the South Carolina Supreme Court's Commission on Continuing Legal Education and Specialization.  This Commission oversees required continuing legal education requirements for South Carolina attorneys.  The Commission also oversees the specialization programs for attorneys in South Carolina in Estate Planning and Probate Law, Taxation Law, Labor Law and Bankruptcy Law.  From 2002-2004, Michael was also the Secretary of the Commission.

He is a past member of the Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee of the South Carolina Bar.  Michael has also been a member of the Complaints Subcommittee.

In addition, Michael is a member and past chairman of the Professional Responsibility Committee of the South Carolina Bar.  He has also chaired subcommittees on studying alternatives to multidisciplinary practices and changes to rules on what to do with a legal practice when an attorney dies, becomes incompetent, is suspended or disbarred.  One of his subcommittees has also written a manual for South Carolina attorneys who are appointed by the South Carolina Supreme Court to take over such practices. Michael was also on a 2002 subcommittee studying and recommending changes to the Model Rules of Professional Conduct for Lawyers.  He was also a member of the Bar's committee that worked with the South Carolina Supreme Court and its own commission on the new Rules of Professional Conduct for Lawyers, which became effective on October 1, 2005.  

 

For 2010, 2011 and 2012, Michael was the Chairman of a newly created Client File Subcommittee that worked on and proposed on a new Rule of Professional Conduct defining what a client file consists of, who owns what portions of the file as between the attorney, the client and third parties and what must be turned over to the client upon the client's request, along with numerous other issues related to the ownership and control of the client file.

 

For 2017 and 2018, he was on the Technology Subcommittee of the of the Professional Responsibility Committee of South Carolina Bar working on changes to the Rules of Professional Conduct related to technology and the lawyer's responsibilities.  

 

For 2018 and 2019, he was a member of the wrap up committee studying certain ABA 2020 changes to the Rules of Professional Responsibility and changes that South Carolina should adopt.

 

For  2018 and 2019, he was a member of the  Lawyer to Lawyer Dispute Resolution Ad Hoc Sub-Committee of the Professional Responsibility Committee, studying ideas on how to handle disputes between lawyers and/or law firms.

 

Michael has also authored several articles, including Disclaimer Trusts: a wait and see approach to estate planning in light of EGTRRA, published in the November 2002 issue of South Carolina Lawyer magazine and What's New and What's Left in Sophisticated Estate Planning published by National Business Institute, June of 2003, for it's manual Advanced Estate Planning Techniques in South Carolina, and also Ethical Considerations for Estate Planning Lawyers in South Carolina - A Study of Selected Provisions of the Rules of Professional Responsibility and a substantial update to What's New and What's Left in Sophisticated Estate Planning, - A Primer on Selected Estate Planning Techniques for South Carolina Attorneys, both published by National Business Institute for its April 2004 manual on How to Protect Assets During Life and Avoid Estate Tax at Death in South Carolina.

Michael is a Life Fellow of the South Carolina Bar Foundation.  The Foundation supports programs around South Carolina designed to provide legal services to those who can not afford them and also education to the public concerning legal matters and rights.  He is also a member of the Society of Justice and Justice Legacy programs of the South Carolina Bar Foundation.  

Michael is also a donor to the Florida Bar Foundation and is a donor and member of the Florida Supreme Court's Historical Society.  He is also a member of the Florida Bar Foundation's Legacy for Justice program.  

Michael is also a supporter of the Lowcountry Legal Clinic which provides services to those who can not afford an attorney and is also a supporter of and has been recognized by the Community Foundation of the Lowcountry, Inc., which is a our local Community Foundation.

He is also a charter member of the Hilton Head Council of Estate and Financial Advisors and was its President during its 2001-2002 fiscal year.  In 2006, he was made a Member Emeritus.

In 2001, 2002 and 2003, Michael was also a representative of the South Carolina Supreme Court's Commission on Continuing Legal Education and Specialization at a National Roundtable on lawyer specialization sponsored by the American Bar Association.