Doug Kim Named Legal Innovator Finalist for 2026 Southeastern Legal Awards

Kim, Lahey & Killough is pleased to announce that founding attorney Doug Kim has been named a Legal Innovator Finalist for the 2026 Southeastern Legal Awards, presented by ALM’s Law.com and The Daily Report. This recognition honors attorneys across North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, and Tennessee who have made a meaningful impact on the legal community. The Legal Innovator distinction specifically recognizes attorneys who are advancing and re-imagining the practice of law. This recognition reflects Doug’s continued commitment to innovation in the legal profession and the firm’s broader mission to deliver forward-thinking legal solutions to its clients.

As former Chairman of both the South Carolina Bar’s Intellectual Property & Innovation Committee and the state’s InnoVision Awards, Doug has worked to educate both the legal and business communities on AI’s growing role in practice and commerce. His recent South Carolina Bar CLE on AI and the law drew over 400 attorneys, the highest attendance for any Bar program since before the pandemic. His broader educational reach includes features on Fox News affiliate broadcasts and South Carolina Public Radio’s Business Review, as well as published articles in the American Bar Association’s Litigation Newsletter and South Carolina Lawyer magazine.

Grounded in a physics degree from Davidson College and an early career as a software engineer, Doug has long anticipated technological change, helping secure some of South Carolina’s earliest blockchain and AI patents on behalf of clients while building a boutique IP practice. Indeed, Kim, Lahey & Killough has been named the state’s Best Intellectual Property Law Firm by Integrated Media Publishing, and Doug has been named among South Carolina’s 50 Most Influential People by the group. Doug has previously been recognized as Best Lawyers’ Patent Lawyer of the Year and Trademark Lawyer of the Year for the Greenville market, and South Carolina Super Lawyers, Legal Elite and TALK Magazine Top Lawyers name him for his work in intellectual property.
We celebrate Doug Kim’s commitment to education, and dedication to elevating the entire profession through his thought leadership and innovation, and congratulate him on this well-deserved recognition.

With offices in both Greenville and Charleston South Carolina, the Kim, Lahey & Killough Law Firm provides strategic legal solutions to businesses of all sizes in the areas of intellectual property creation and protection, brand protection, invention protection, copyright, licensing, intellectual property litigation, trade secrets, software protection, internet and e-commerce issues, corporate formation, contracts, and business disputes and mediation resolutions.