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Adams and Reese’s Columbia office will have a new leader as Matthew B. Hill has been named the new Partner in Charge of firm’s South Carolina branch, managing partner Gif Thornton announced Wednesday.

The move comes in congruence with the designation of former Columbia PIC Robert P. Bethea to Adams and Reese’s mergers and acquisitions team leader. The new moves come one day after the two attorneys were named 2017 Legal Elite by Columbia Business Monthly, and Hill will oversee operations of the office.

Hill joined Adams and Reese in 2013 as a partner following the firm’s expansion into Columbia. His real estate practice provides counsel to individuals and real estate development groups in connection with the acquisition, sale, construction and development of commercial and residential real estate projects. His practice also concentrates on providing representation to national and regional landlords and tenants as they negotiate, renew, modify and work out commercial leases involving retail, warehouse, industrial, office, and restaurant space. Hill also serves as counsel to national and regional banks and other institutional lenders in connection with credit facilities provided for office and retail development projects; industrial facilities; asset-based financings; and troubled debt restructuring and workouts.

Committed to investing personal time in the community, Hill serves on the Executive Committee of the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce and is a 2004 graduate of the Chamber’s Leadership Columbia program. He serves on the Board of the South Carolina Wildlife Federation and currently is a member of the organization’s Executive Committee. Hill is a past president of the Columbia Kiwanis.

A 1997 graduate of Davidson College, Hill earned his J.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 2001. He serves the South Carolina Bar as a member of the Corporate, Banking & Securities Law Section Council, and is a past recipient of the Richland County Bar Association’s Civic Star Award.

Bethea joined Adams and Reese in 2013 and served as the firms’ Columbia Partner in Charge since the office was opened. Practicing law since 1996, Bethea is ranked by Best Lawyers (by BL Rankings, LLC) in Corporate, Mergers and Acquisitions, and Tax Law, and by Chambers USA for Mergers and Acquisitions. He is the former leader of the Ellis Lawhorne business, real estate and finance practice group and the management committee before the firm merged with Adams and Reese.

His practice focuses on business transactions ranging from early-stage startups, to mid-cycle company growth through acquisitions, recapitalizations and financing transactions, through succession planning and divestitures. Often acting as primary outside counsel for corporate clients, he routinely advises on taxation, business contracts and agreements, company governance matters and compliance issues in coordination with in-house counsel and company finance and accounting professionals. Bethea’s clients include manufacturers in chemical, medical device, automotive and marine industries, and service industry firms in healthcare, finance and business services sectors.

Bethea earned his bachelor’s degree from Wofford College in 1993, his J.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1996 and his LL.M. from New York University School of Law in 1997. In the community, he is a graduate of the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Columbia program and has served on the Hammond School Board of Trustees, Discovery Council Board for EdVenture Children’s Museum and the Hammond School Alumni Board.