Thomas Pope

Senior Counsel at Elrod Pope
Rock Hill, SC36 years experienceAdmitted 1988

About Thomas Pope

Thomas "Tommy" E. Pope, Esq. is Senior Counsel at Elrod Pope Accident & Injury Attorneys in Rock Hill, South Carolina, with more than 30 years of litigation experience. He also currently serves as the Speaker Pro Tempore of the South Carolina House of Representatives.

A proud Rock Hill High School graduate, Pope was elected Solicitor (District Attorney) for the 16th Circuit (Union and York Counties, SC) in 1993. He is most often recognized for his 1995 prosecution of Susan Smith in Union County, which made national headlines for the drowning deaths of her two children. Pope retired as Solicitor in 2006, began his own law firm, and joined the Elrod Law Firm in 2008 to form Elrod Pope Accident & Injury Attorneys.

Pope is the 2026 Platinum Recipient of the Compleat Lawyer Award and has been named a Super Lawyer (2013-2024) and to the National Trial Lawyers Top 100 (2022-2024). He holds the Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent Peer Rating, was awarded the South Carolina Order of the Palmetto in 2008, the South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Leadership in Law Award in 2014, and is a six-time recipient of the Business Advocate Award from the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce.

He is a member of the York County Bar Association, the South Carolina Association for Justice, the SCAJ House of Delegates Board of Governors, the South Carolina Solicitors Association (Past President), the South Carolina Commission on Prosecution Coordination (Past Chairman), and the Judicial Qualification Commission (Past Chairman).

He earned his Juris Doctorate from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1987 and his Bachelor of Science in Business Management from the University of South Carolina in 1984. He was admitted to the South Carolina Bar in 1988 and is also admitted to the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina.

Proven verdicts and settlements at Elrod Pope

These results are credited to Elrod Pope. A result appears under an attorney's own name only when a published source names them as counsel on the case.

$10.28 millionVerdictTop 20 in South Carolina · #15

A South Carolina warehouse worker suffered permanent lumbar spinal injuries when a commercial trailer's improperly installed landing gear buckled during loading, sending a jury to award Anthony Avery $7.48 million in compensatory damages and $2.8 million in punitive damages against MG Logistics, Inc.

U.S. District Court, D.S.C., Rock Hill Division · 2026Truck AccidentsRead the full story →

A construction worker in a marked Charlotte crosswalk was hit by a left-turning construction truck on August 29, 2022, and suffered a traumatic brain injury with multiple skull fractures. The defense blamed him for failing to keep a lookout, but reconstruction showed the truck at 18 mph with no braking. At a July 29, 2025 mediation the case resolved for $6 million, all available liability insurance limits.

Mecklenburg County Superior Court, Charlotte, North Carolina · 2025Car AccidentsRead the full story →
$2.95 millionVerdict

A federal jury awarded $2.95 million to the estate of David Allan Woods, a 50-year-old South Carolina detainee who died of gastrointestinal bleeding in 2010 after jail officers repeatedly ignored his deteriorating condition.

U.S. District Court, D.S.C. (Berkeley County) · 2014Wrongful DeathRead the full story →

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is unique and depends on its own facts.

Practice areas

Education

University of South Carolina School of Law
B.S. in Business Management, 1987
University of South Carolina
Undergraduate, 1984

Bar admissions & credentials

State Bar of South Carolina, admitted 1988
State Bar of U.S. District Court, District of South Carolina
York County Bar Association
South Carolina Association for Justice
SCAJ House of Delegates, Board of Governors
South Carolina Solicitors Association (Past President)
South Carolina Commission on Prosecution Coordination (Past Chairman)
Judicial Qualification Commission (Past Chairman)

Awards & recognition

Platinum Compleat Lawyer Award (2026)
Super Lawyers (2013-2024)
National Trial Lawyers Top 100 (2022-2024)
Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent rating
South Carolina Order of the Palmetto (2008)
South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Leadership in Law Award (2014)
South Carolina Chamber of Commerce Business Advocate Award (6x recipient)
Legislative Champion Award, South Carolina Sheriffs (2022)
Rock Hill Jaycees Outstanding Young American (1995)

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