GREENVILLE, SC (January 21, 2026) – Wyche is pleased to announce that Wallace Lightsey has been elected to the American Law Institute (ALI), a singular professional distinction reserved for leading judges, lawyers, and legal scholars from across the United States and around the world.
Election to ALI is by confidential nomination and reflects professional excellence, high character, and a demonstrated commitment to improving the law. Members are selected based on their ability to contribute meaningfully to the Institute’s work of clarifying, simplifying, and reforming the law through its Restatements, Principles, and Model Codes.
“The election of new members is among the most important responsibilities of the Institute,” said David F. Levi, President of ALI. “This distinguished group once again brings the reach and experience needed to help the ALI address emerging legal challenges while continuing to pursue its mission of clarifying, simplifying, and reforming the law. As I welcome these new members, I do so with great confidence in the Institute’s future.”
Lightsey is widely recognized for his skill and experience as a trial and appellate attorney. He has conducted approximately 100 trials, including over 60 jury trials. He has also argued numerous appeals in the South Carolina appellate courts and the United States Courts of Appeals for the First, Fourth, Sixth, and Eleventh Circuits. Lightsey’s practice involves complex securities, corporate, and intellectual property cases, as well as news media and First Amendment disputes. In the area of First Amendment litigation, he has represented Facebook Inc., Time Inc., The New York Times Company, The Associated Press, and Pulitzer Broadcasting, as well as many local and state newspapers and broadcasters. He also has deep experience litigating disputes over intellectual property – such as trademark, copyright, and trade secrets – and in recent years has been lead counsel in copyright lawsuits with close to a billion dollars at stake in aggregate.
For the past four years, Lightsey has been named the number-one attorney in South Carolina by Super Lawyers. In 2004, he was inducted into the American College of Trial Lawyers, an organization composed of a select group of the best trial attorneys in the U.S. and Canada. And in 2019, he was inducted into the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, the most prestigious group of appellate practitioners in the country.
Lightsey is actively involved in matters of professional ethics, and served as the Chair of the South Carolina Commission on Lawyer Conduct from 1997 through 2004.
Building on his substantial trial and courtroom experience, Lightsey has been certified by the American Arbitration Association to its Roster of Neutrals for commercial arbitration, and has served as panel chair, panel member, and sole arbitrator in a number of arbitrations involving large, complex disputes.
Prior to joining Wyche, Lightsey clerked for the Honorable Warren E. Burger, Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Lightsey is a graduate of Duke University and Harvard Law School where he served as Executive Editor of the Harvard Law Review.
