Partners & associates

Our Attorneys

Every matter at Sterling & Vance is led by a partner and staffed deliberately. The four attorneys below anchor the firm’s practice; each is admitted in South Carolina and answerable to you by name.

Margaret E. Sterling

Managing Partner · Litigation & Appeals

Bar Admissions: South Carolina, 1987; U.S. District Court, D.S.C.; U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit
Education: Duke University School of Law, J.D., Order of the Coif; College of Charleston, B.A., History

Margaret co-founded the firm in 1987 after clerking on the South Carolina Supreme Court, and has since tried more than sixty cases to verdict. She leads the firm’s litigation and appellate practices, is a past chair of the Charleston County Bar, and is known for cross-examinations that read like edited prose. Clients describe her, accurately, as the calmest person in any courtroom.

Edward T. Vance

Senior Partner · Corporate & Real Estate

Bar Admissions: South Carolina, 1985; Georgia, 1986 (inactive)
Education: University of Virginia School of Law, J.D.; The Citadel, B.S., Business Administration

Edward built the firm’s transactional practice around a simple conviction: a deal drafted well is a dispute avoided. He serves as outside general counsel to family enterprises across the Lowcountry and has closed more than a billion dollars of Charleston real estate, much of it behind facades the Board of Architectural Review would recognize on sight. He teaches, occasionally and reluctantly, at the Charleston School of Law.

Priya Raman

Associate · Estates & Trusts

Bar Admissions: South Carolina, 2019
Education: Vanderbilt University Law School, J.D.; Furman University, B.A., Economics

Priya joined the firm from the fiduciary litigation group of an Atlanta firm and now carries much of the estates and trusts practice, from generation-skipping structures to contested probates. She writes trust instruments the way she was taught to write briefs: so a stranger could administer them without a phone call. She chairs the Charleston Estate Planning Council’s young professionals section.

Thomas J. Calhoun

Associate · Litigation & Employment

Bar Admissions: South Carolina, 2021; U.S. District Court, D.S.C.
Education: University of South Carolina School of Law, J.D., magna cum laude; Clemson University, B.A., Political Science

Thomas clerked for the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina before joining the firm’s litigation group, where he handles employment disputes, restrictive covenants, and the motion practice that decides most cases before trial. A Lowcountry native, he can trace his family’s Charleston addresses back seven generations, and will, if asked.

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