Rick Mendoza

Rick Mendoza is an experienced creditors’ rights and bankruptcy law attorney. He has dedicated more than 35 years to this area of practice, and is a Board Certified Bankruptcy and Debtor-Creditor Law Specialist in South Carolina since 1993. He served on Bankruptcy and Debtor-Creditor Law Advisory Board for the State of South Carolina (1992 – 1996; 2008 – 2014; Chairman 2012 – 2015).

Rick was admitted in 2016 as a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy. The American College of Bankruptcy is an honorary public service association of bankruptcy and insolvency professionals who are invited to join as Fellows based on a proven record of the highest standards of professionalism plus service to the profession and their communities.

Rick also is a Masters of the Bench Member of the J. Bratton Davis Bankruptcy American Inn of Court, and he currently serves as its President.  This American Inn of Court was formed to preserve and pass on the standards of civility and professionalism set by the Honorable J. Bratton Davis, long-time Chief Judge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of South Carolina.  It also seeks to provide mentorship to younger attorneys and attorneys new to the practice of bankruptcy law in the South Carolina Bankruptcy Court, and to promote diversity in the South Carolina Bankruptcy Bar.

 Rick has long standing connections to the South Carolina community, receiving his Bachelor of Science Degree, cum laude, from the University of South Carolina College of Business Administration and his Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina School of Law, where he has served as an adjunct professor. He served on the Board of Trustees for the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina (Chair 2015 – 2016), and he currently serves on the Board of Trustees for the S.C. Center for Fathers and Families (Chair 2012 – 2013).  

Rick is the 2016 “Lawyer of the Year” (Best Lawyers in America) for Columbia, and named to Best Lawyers in America, for Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights Law from 2001 through the present.

• Fellow, American College of Bankruptcy, 2016–present
• Master of the Bench Member, J. Bratton Davis Bankruptcy American Inn of Court (2018-present; President 2018-present)
• Member of the Bankruptcy and Debtor-Creditor Law Specialization Advisory Board, State of South Carolina (1992–1996; 2008–2014; Chairman 2012-2014)
• Member of Board of Trustees for the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina (2010–2018; Chair 2015–2016)
• Member of Board of Trustees for the South Carolina Center for Fathers and Families (2010–present; Chair 2012–2013)
• Member of the Bankruptcy Local Rules Advisory Committee for the District of South Carolina (1994–1995; 2003–2006; Chairman 2003–2006)
• South Carolina Bar
• South Carolina Bankruptcy Law Association (Board of Directors, 1992–1993, 1998–1999)
• Richland County Bar Association

• Martindale-Hubbell "AV" Preeminent Peer Review Rated
• Admission as a Fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy, 2016–present
• Master of the Bench Member, J. Bratton Davis Bankruptcy American Inn of Court (2018-present; President 2018-present)
• Certified Bankruptcy and Debtor-Creditor Law Specialist, State of South Carolina 1993–present
• Best Lawyers in America, for Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights Law, 2001–present
• Best Lawyers in America “Lawyer of the Year” in Columbia, 2012 and 2016
• Included in the South Carolina Super Lawyers list in the area of Bankruptcy and Business Litigation 2008-2018 (“Top 10” in South Carolina 2010; “Top 25” in South Carolina 2012 and 2014)
• Matthew J. Perry Civility Award, Richland County Bar Association, 2015
• William E.S. Robinson Public Service Award for the Meritorious Advancement of the Practice of Bankruptcy Law, South Carolina Bankruptcy Law Association, 1999
• Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year, South Carolina Bar Association, 1998
• Adjunct Professor of Law, University of South Carolina School of Law, 1995
• "Legal Elite of the Midlands", Bankruptcy and Creditor Rights