Darra James Coleman is Special Counsel in Nexsen Pruet’s Columbia, South Carolina office, where she practices Health Care law.
Darra has more than 20 years of diverse experience serving both public and private sector clients. From May of 2012 until March of 2020, she served as Chief Advice Counsel and policy counsel for the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, where she managed the legal team that provides in-house legal services to 42 professional and occupational licensing boards. Darra’s practice focused on the navigation of complicated legal issues such as scope of practice compliance, the intersection of federal and state laws, immigration, telehealth, prescribing guidelines, clinical best practices, and interstate licensure compact law, in addition to licensure and disciplinary matters. She represented the agency on various state wide initiatives relating to health care, including Governor Haley’s Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Council, Governor McMaster’s Opioid Emergency Response Team, and the South Carolina Behavioral Health Coalition.
Most recently, Darra has been able to leverage her experience in policy counsel to help clients navigate the COVID-19 crisis. She offers guidance in the areas of telehealth, regulatory compliance and licensure to assist clients in facing the myriad of changes that are occurring in state and federal policies and regulations to address the rapidly changing health care landscape.
Following a judicial clerkship immediately upon graduation from law school, Darra spent five years practicing with a small litigation firm where she represented governmental entities, individuals and insurance carriers in civil litigation and mediation throughout South Carolina. She spent the next eight years with a mid-size law firm where her practice grew to encompass cases from around the country and diverse business interests, including health care and other professional licensure defense. As a mediator and litigator, Darra helped clients resolve disputes involving employment, probate, personal injury, family, insurance coverage, contract and construction law.
Darra recognizes her clients’ needs are as varied and fast-paced as the evolving world in which we live.
University of South Carolina, J.D., 1998
University of South Carolina, B.A., 1995
- cum laude, with Honors from the South Carolina Honors College
- Phi Beta Kappa
- South Carolina
- U.S. District Court, District of South Carolina
- Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals
- United States Supreme Court
- Certified Circuit Court Mediator and Family Court Mediator
- South Carolina Bar Association, member of the Law Related Education Committee
- South Carolina Women Lawyers Association
- Lexington County Bar Association, former President (2012)
- DHEC Institutional Review Board (Lay Member)
- Mt. Horeb United Methodist Church, former SPRC Lay Member
- Greater Columbia Business Monthly’s Legal Elite in the fields of Personal Injury (2010) and Healthcare Law (2018)
- Bar Register of Preeminent Women Lawyers
- AV rated by Martindale
Overview
Darra James Coleman is Special Counsel in Nexsen Pruet’s Columbia, South Carolina office, where she practices Health Care law.
Darra has more than 20 years of diverse experience serving both public and private sector clients. From May of 2012 until March of 2020, she served as Chief Advice Counsel and policy counsel for the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, where she managed the legal team that provides in-house legal services to 42 professional and occupational licensing boards. Darra’s practice focused on the navigation of complicated legal issues such as scope of practice compliance, the intersection of federal and state laws, immigration, telehealth, prescribing guidelines, clinical best practices, and interstate licensure compact law, in addition to licensure and disciplinary matters. She represented the agency on various state wide initiatives relating to health care, including Governor Haley’s Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Council, Governor McMaster’s Opioid Emergency Response Team, and the South Carolina Behavioral Health Coalition.
Most recently, Darra has been able to leverage her experience in policy counsel to help clients navigate the COVID-19 crisis. She offers guidance in the areas of telehealth, regulatory compliance and licensure to assist clients in facing the myriad of changes that are occurring in state and federal policies and regulations to address the rapidly changing health care landscape.
Following a judicial clerkship immediately upon graduation from law school, Darra spent five years practicing with a small litigation firm where she represented governmental entities, individuals and insurance carriers in civil litigation and mediation throughout South Carolina. She spent the next eight years with a mid-size law firm where her practice grew to encompass cases from around the country and diverse business interests, including health care and other professional licensure defense. As a mediator and litigator, Darra helped clients resolve disputes involving employment, probate, personal injury, family, insurance coverage, contract and construction law.
Darra recognizes her clients’ needs are as varied and fast-paced as the evolving world in which we live.
- South Carolina Bar Association, member of the Law Related Education Committee
- South Carolina Women Lawyers Association
- Lexington County Bar Association, former President (2012)
- DHEC Institutional Review Board (Lay Member)
- Mt. Horeb United Methodist Church, former SPRC Lay Member
- Greater Columbia Business Monthly’s Legal Elite in the fields of Personal Injury (2010) and Healthcare Law (2018)
- Bar Register of Preeminent Women Lawyers
- AV rated by Martindale
Speaking & Writing
- 2020 Employment Law Certificate Series
October 14, 2020
- How Confident Should Consumers Be? Types of Tests and Recent Regulatory Actions to Enhance COVID-19 Testing Integrity
October 23, 2020 - CMS is Here to Help with Temporary Expansions
September 14, 2020 - Who is Filing Coronavirus-Related OSHA Complaints?
July 21, 2020 - Darra James Coleman on COVID Related OSHA Complaints
July 20, 2020 - Key Steps In Responding to a COVID-driven OSHA Complaint
July 12, 2020 - DHEC Issues Guidance to S.C. Employers on COVID-19 Exposure Scenarios
July 8, 2020 - A Glimpse at Recent State and Federal COVID-19 Testing Developments
May 12, 2020 - Nexsen Pruet and SCHA Team Up for a Q&A on Labor Related COVID-19 Topics
April 21, 2020 - SC and NC Emergency Regulatory Changes and Telehealth: Guidance, Implementation, and Pitfalls
March 27, 2020
Darra is a frequent speaker on various topics, including the opioid epidemic, scopes of practice, addiction and attorneys, and the impact of criminal conviction on professional licensing.
Resolved: J. Alternative Disp. Resol. 1 (2012) The Power of the Apology: Resolving Medical Malpractice Claims in South Carolina
Taking the Pulse - A Health Care Podcast
Co-Host, Episode 3: Kathy Schwarting, Chief Executive Officer, Palmetto Care Connections, Nexsen Pruet & NP Strategy, Columbia, SC, May 19, 2020
Co-Host, Episode 4: Richele Taylor, General Counsel & Senior VP of Advocacy & Communications, SCMA, Nexsen Pruet & NP Strategy, Columbia, SC, June 4, 2020
Co-Host, Episode 7: Dr. Gerry Harmon, President-Elect, American Medical Association; VP of Medical Affairs, Tidelands Health, Nexsen Pruet & NP Strategy, Columbia, SC, June 23, 2020
Co-Host, Episode 8: Bob Quinn, Executive Director, SCRA, Nexsen Pruet & NP Strategy, Columbia, SC, June 30, 2020
Co-Host, Episode 12: Dr. Ada Stewart, President-Elect of the American Academy of Family Physicians; Physician, Eau Claire Cooperative Health Center, Nexsen Pruet & NP Strategy, Columbia, SC, July 28, 2020
Co-Host, Episode 14: Sara Goldsby, Executive Director, DAODAS, Nexsen Pruet & NP Strategy, Columbia, SC, August 11, 2020
Co-Host, Episode 16: Matthew Roberts and Darra Coleman, Health Care Attorneys, Nexsen Pruet, Nexsen Pruet & NP Strategy, Columbia, SC, August 25, 2020
Co-Host, Episode 17: South Carolina Senator Shane Massey, Nexsen Pruet & NP Strategy, Columbia, SC, September 1, 2020
Co-Host, Episode 18: Molly Spearman, South Carolina Superintendent of Education, Nexsen Pruet & NP Strategy, Columbia, SC, September 8, 2020
Co-Host, Episode 24: South Carolina State Representative Murrell Smith, Nexsen Pruet & NP Strategy, Columbia, SC, October 20, 2020
Outside Nexsen Pruet
Darra can usually be found chasing her children’s favorite pursuits of the season, whether fishing, baseball, track, cello, or viola, traveling, or spending time with her extended family, then writing about their everyday experiences. Her favorite places are the beach and her family’s farm.
