Wes joined Harrison White, P.C. in 2003 after spending the first five years of his practice defending personal injury lawsuits, mostly arising from automobile collisions and commercial premises accidents, for several insurance companies. He has applied what he learned defending lawsuits to his trial practice representing individuals and families in state and federal court. His practice focus has remained personal injury and wrongful death claims arising from car, motorcycle and truck collisions, as well as nursing home abuse and neglect and medical malpractice.  In addition to his inclusion in Super Lawyers since 2014, Wes has been a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates since 2017.

Prior to joining Harrison White in 2003, attorney Wes A. Kissinger already had developed a relationship of sorts with the firm. After getting his J.D. from Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham, Ala. in 1997, he practiced in a Greenville insurance-defense firm and on a number of occasions he and the attorneys from Harrison White faced each other as opposing counsel.

What developed from that adversarial relationship was a mutual admiration that resulted in Harrison White asking Kissinger if he’d like to join the firm and develop an entirely different kind of practice representing plaintiffs instead of corporations. He made the move and has been providing sound counsel and zealous advocacy for injured individuals ever since. His prior experience defending claims and lawsuits on behalf of insurance companies has proved invaluable; giving him the tools to effectively advocate on behalf of his clients.

His practice focuses on personal injury, products liability, wrongful death, and nursing-home abuse and neglect and he’s achieved numerous significant recoveries, including seven-figure settlements.

Kissinger admits that he loves the competitive aspects of being a civil litigator. But more than anything, he says, his greatest enjoyment as a lawyer comes from the people he represents.

“I like helping real people navigate a process they’re not familiar with and helping them through a very difficult time in their lives,” he says. “Until they’re in a situation when they need our services, people oftentimes don’t really have a sense of how much their lives can be affected by an event they did nothing to cause. I want to ease that burden.”

In similar fashion, Kissinger strives to carry this kind of human touch into the courtroom when he is trying cases. “I do my best not to speak like a lawyer,” he says. “When I’m speaking to a jury, I speak to them like an ordinary person; I try to make difficult concepts very easy to understand by using plain language. Trial is the art of persuasion. It is hard to persuade someone if he or she doesn’t understand what you’re talking about.”

In addition to his busy practice, Kissinger oftentimes assists other lawyers by giving Continuing Legal Education presentations. Topics of his talks have included “Obtaining the Best Settlements for Personal Injury Clients,” and “Ethical Considerations and Malpractice Prevention.”

He devotes nearly all of his spare time to his family and church, sharing with his wife and five children an enjoyment of camping and water sports. Kissinger also serves on the Board of Directors for Greer Christian Learning Center.

• Email Wes at wkissinger@spartanlaw.com.
• Download Wes’ bio.