Born: Union, South Carolina
Education: University of South Carolina at Spartanburg (B.A., cum laude, 1982); University of South Carolina School of Law (J.D., 1985)
Admitted to Bar: 1985, South Carolina
Member: South Carolina Bar, Spartanburg County Bar Association, American Bar Association. Currently serves on the Truist local bank board.
Practice Areas: Banking and Finance; Bankruptcy; Commercial Transactions; Creditors Rights Law; Real Estate, Commercial and Residential
Donna has practiced with firm as an associate and then partner since 1987. Prior to that, she was a Judicial Law Clerk to Honorable John P. Gardner, Sr., South Carolina Court of Appeals, from 1985-87. A Martindale-Hubbell AV-Rated Attorney, Donna’s practice areas include transactional law, residential and commercial real estate, finance, and creditors rights. Her real estate experience includes experience in a wide range of projects and developments from industrial parks, multi-property purchases, hotel and apartment acquisitions, construction lending, developmental loan closings, commercial foreclosures, and commercial leasing, to the related contract negotiations and company formations. In addition to representing sellers, buyers, borrowers, and lenders in these areas, she also provides local counsel opinion letters to out-of-state parties and collaborates regularly with attorneys in other states to similarly assist her clients in South Carolina. In addition to those practice areas, Donna also is involved in managing the collections and creditor’s rights practice areas in the firm and represents many of the Upstate regional lenders in these areas.
Johnson Smith can trace its history back to 1930 when Edwin W. Johnson opened his law office on Church Street in Downtown Spartanburg. For nearly 100 years from that location, Johnson Smith has continued to provide trusted legal counsel and client-focused services to generations of families and businesses in Spartanburg and beyond. The contributions of Johnson Smith and its attorneys are woven into the very landscape of Spartanburg. Johnson Smith is tied to Spartanburg’s history and committed to its future. Please let us know how we can help you.