Sean A. O'Connor

North Charleston, South Carolina

Member

phone	(843) 577-5460
fax	866-800-7954

Sean A. O'Connor is a partner in Finkel Law Firm LLC and is based in the firm’s North Charleston office. His law practice is focused on civil litigation, much of it real property-related. Community Association Law, also known as HOA/Condominium Law, has been a significant focus of Sean’s practice for 13 years, including representation of homeowners associations (HOAs), condominium associations other deed-restricted property regimes, including working with and advising the community association companies and individuals who professionally manage those associations. Sean also handles collection of debt, real property litigation, landlord-tenant disputes, mortgage litigation, lender liability and other business, commercial and general civil litigation. Sean is a seasoned trial and appellate attorney and is admitted to practice in all state and federal courts in South Carolina as well as the Fourth Circuit. Prior to joining Finkel Law Firm in 2005, Sean practiced with a large South Carolina defense law firm for over five years and handled a wide variety of complex insurance litigation, declaratory and direct actions involving insurance carriers, coverage issues, and defense of professional liability and personal injury actions.

Having handled a significant volume of Community Association Law matters since 2006, Sean has been able to develop a wealth of experience and knowledge of the legal issues facing board members and professional community association managers, and has formed an acute sense of the kind of practical, common sense solutions that are needed to resolve difficult problems and issues efficiently and cost-effectively, including but not limited to addressing significant collections arrearages.

As part of Sean’s membership in the Community Associations Institute’s South Carolina chapter and being a member of the South Carolina Bar’s Community Association Law Committee, Sean frequently does speaking engagements around the state on various legal topics relating to South Carolina HOA/Condominium Law. If you feel that your Association or community management company could benefit from such a presentation on a topic of your choosing or one that Sean has given to other groups, please contact Sean to arrange one. The presentations are free of charge with no obligation. Sean represents HOA clients all over South Carolina, and a client-friendly policy he offers to his HOA/Condo Association clients is that if he needs to travel outside the Charleston area to the property or to court, he does not charge for the travel time or cost. That way it remains as advantageous and affordable to retain Sean as it would be to retain an attorney whose office may be physically closer to the property.

Recent Recognitions:

Sean was selected as one of “20 to Know: Remarkable leaders, change makers shaping the North Area's future” by North in the Lowcountry magazine (“NOLO”) in October 2017. He was also selected as one of the 2017 “Legal Elite of the Lowcountry” by Charleston Business magazine.

Community Involvement:

Sean is an active member of the East Cooper Breakfast Rotary club, serving as an executive board member (Secretary) in 2018-19. Since 2015 Sean has been a reading tutor in the Reading Partners program, an Americorps-affiliated program which mobilizes communities to provide students with the proven, individualized reading support they need to read at grade level by fourth grade. The program partners with under-resourced schools and engages volunteer reading partners to work one-on-one with students who struggle with reading. Since reading is the foundation for all future learning, and the ability to read transforms lives and empowers children and communities to reach their full potential. Research shows that students who read at grade level by fourth grade have a greater opportunity to succeed in school and in life. Sean also regularly teaches at local schools on iCivics Day and Constitution Day, a program run by the South Carolina Bar. This program was founded by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor of the U.S. Supreme Court (retired). Its aim is to cultivate a new generation of students for thoughtful and active citizenship, as civic knowledge is a prerequisite for civic participation.

Published Works:

• “South Carolina Supreme Court Rules Members of Golf and Amenities Club were Required to Continue Paying Dues, Even After Resignation,” Palmetto Communities, Issue 4, Winter 2018 (appeared on front cover)
• “Challenge to Legality of Liens and Foreclosures Against Owners in Non-condominium Associations Rejected by Federal Court,” Palmetto Communities, Issue 3, Fall 2018
• “Should HOAs, POAs and Condominium Associations prepare and file their own liens without using an attorney, after the February 2017 S.C. Supreme Court decision in Rogers Townsend & Thomas, PC v. Peck?” Palmetto Communities, Winter 2017 (appeared on front cover)
• “How a Lack of Regulation Turned into a Big Dam Problem,” 28 South Carolina Lawyer 44 (September 2016) (appeared on front cover)
• “Last Call: The South Carolina Supreme Court Turns Out the Lights on First-Party Plaintiffs' Causes of Action Against Tavern Owners,” 50 South Carolina Law Review 1095 (1999)

Reported Decisions in matters handled for clients:

• Toney v. Lasalle Bank Nat'l Ass'n, 896 F.Supp.2d 455 (D.S.C. 2012)
• BAC Home Loan Servicing, L.P. v. Kinder, 398 S.C. 619, 731 S.E.2d 547 (2012)
• Bank of New York v. Sumter County, 387 S.C. 147, 691 S.E.2d 473 (2010)
• Marichris, LLC v. Derrick, 384 S.C. 345, 682 S.E.2d 301 (Ct. App. 2009)
• Drury Development Corp v. Foundation Ins. Co., 380 S.C. 97, 668 S.E.2d 798 (2008)
• Eastern Savings Bank, FSB v. Sanders, 373 S.C. 349, 644 S.E.2d 802 (Ct. App. 2007)
• Wilson v. Style Crest Products, Inc., 367 S.C. 653, 627 S.E.2d 733 (2006)
• Charleston Dry Cleaners and Laundry, Inc. v. Zurich American Ins. Co., 355 S.C. 614, 586 S.E.2d 586 (2003)

Professional Associations and Memberships:

• South Carolina Bar Association
  • Member
• Charleston County Bar Association
  • Member
• Charleston Lawyers Club
  • Member
• Community Associations Institute, South Carolina Chapter
  • Member
  • Blue Ribbon Committee, 2018-present
• East Cooper Breakfast Rotary Club
  • Secretary, 2018-19
• Great Business Networking
  • Member, Park Circle group
• Habitat for Humanity of Berkeley County
  • Executive Board Member / Vice President, 2014-17

Bar Admissions:

• South Carolina, 2000
• U.S. District Court District of South Carolina, 2000

Education:

• University of South Carolina School of Law, Columbia, South Carolina, May, 2000
  • Juris Doctor
  • Honors: Cum Laude
  • Honors: Dean's List
  • Honors: Order of Wig and Robe
  • Honors: CALI Award in Evidence
  • Honors: CALI Award in Mass Torts
  • Honors: Recipient of Pinckney L. Cain Scholarship, 1998-'99 and 1999-2000
• University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1988
  • Bachelor of Arts
  • Major: Communication Arts
• Northern Kentucky University, Highland Heights, Kentucky, 1993
  • Bachelor of Arts
  • Major: Journalism

Call (803) 403-1451 to reach Sean to discuss your legal case.

*This is intended for information purposes only and does not guarantee that similar results can be attained in your case.