Lawyer Bio : Morris A. Ellison

Admitted to bar: 1982, South Carolina.

Certified Circuit Court Mediator.

Professional Organizations:

• American-Israel Chamber of Commerce, Member.
• American College of Real Estate Lawyers, Fellow.
• American College of Mortgage Attorneys, Fellow.
• American Bar Association: Hotels, Resorts and Tourism Committee, Chair and Co-Chair 2003-2007,Hospitality Industry Liaison Committee, Member.
• American Property Tax Counsel, South Carolina Member.
• Real Estate Council of the South Carolina Bar, Chair 1994-1995.
• South Carolina Bar Ad Hoc Committee on Attorney Defalcations, Member 1994-1995.
• South Carolina Law Institute: Member, Advisory Committees for Articles 2A and 8 of the Uniform Commercial Code.
• Charleston Lawyers Club: President, 1991-1992.
• Leadership South Carolina, Class of 1988.
• Certified Circuit Court Mediator.
• Former Arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association.

Trident Urban League: Board of Directors, 1994-Present, Chairman of Membership Committee, 1996-Present; Crisis Ministries: Board of Directors, 1985-Present, Master Volunteer, 1985-1986, Chairman of Shelter Committee, 1986-1988, Member-Steering Committee for Emergency Fund, 1991-Present; Charleston Breakfast Rotary Club: President, 1990-1991, Vice-President, 1988-1989, Board of Directors, 1987-1991, Paul Harris Fellow, Founder of Rotary Wheels, a fundraiser which has raised in excess of $150,000 for the homeless and other charities since 1990; Roper Foundation (charitable foundation devoted to health care issues in the Greater Charleston, South Carolina area): Board of Directors, 1990 to Present, Chairman of Development Committee, 1994 to Present; Hotline, Inc. (crisis intervention and suicide prevention telephone referral service), Board of Directors, 1986-Present; Member, North Charleston Local Advisory Board, 1991-Present.

Duke University School of Law, 1982 - J.D., Editorial Board Member, Duke Law Journal, 1981-1982, Staff Member, Duke Law Journal, 1980, Author, "Federal Preemption Under the Railway Labor Act: Traditional vs. Essential State Functions in the context of Commuter Transit Systems", 1981 Duke Law Journal 989, International and Comparative Law Institute of Law and Contemporary Problems, 1981-1982.

Yale University, 1979 - B.A., History, Magna Cum Laude, With Distinction.

Law Clerk to the Honorable James C. Hill, Circuit Judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, Atlanta, Georgia, 1982-1983.

Author, “Building Value: How to Save Money by Allocating Prices in Real Estate Transactions,” pages 48-49, published in Commercial Property Executive, December 2012.

“Experts: Israeli renewable firms welcome in US”, published by The Jerusalem Post.  South Carolina business delegation to Israel of which Ellison was a member. December 2012.

Co-Author, “Smart Hotel Owners Turn Eroding Property Values Into Tax Advantages,” National Real Estate Investor, September 2010.

Contributor to “Sale of Goods/Uniform Commercial Code, South Carolina Damages”, published by the South Carolina Bar, 2004.

Contributor to “Foreclosure Law & Related Remedies, A State-by-State Digest,” published by the Section of Real Property, Probate and Trust Law of the American Bar Association, 1995.

Valuation Issues for Self Storage Professionals; and you thought getting financing used to be taxing, Florida Self Storage Association, Orlando, FL, March 2013.

Purchase Price Allocation in Real Estate Transactions: Does A + B + C Always Equal Value?, ACREL, Naples, FL, March 2013.

Distinguishing Real Property Value, Personal Property Value and Intangible Value, South Carolina Bankers Association, Columbia, SC, October 2012.

When is it Better to Receive than to Give? The Use of Receiverships for Distressed Hotel and Common Interest Development Projects, ABA Real Property, Trust & Estate Law Spring Symposia, New York, New York, May 2012.

Improving the Bottom Line: Tax Reassessment Appeals for Hotels©, Hospitality Law Conference, Houston, Texas, February 2010.

Morris A. Ellison and William T. Dawson, South Carolina Property Tax Update, American Property Tax Counsel National Property Tax Update, September 2009, http://www.aptcnet.com/NewsLtr.html#sc.

South Carolina Update, American Property Tax Counsel Seminar, November 2008.

Shell Games Tenants Play: Guaranties, Letters of Credit and Special Purpose Entities, American College of Real Estate Lawyers San Diego, California, March 2007.

Dockominium Development, STAR (Stewart Title Attorney Referral) Network Conference, Houston, Texas, November 2007.

Dockominium Development and Structuring, Hospitality Law Conference, Houston, Texas, February 2007.

Successfully Pursuing Tax Reassessment Appeals Greater Summerville Dorchester County, South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, August 2005.

Income Producing Real Estate -- What to do in a Default, South Carolina Bankers Association, September 2003.

Lender Liability: What Is It and How to Avoid It, South Carolina Bankers Association 2002 Credit Conference.

Revised Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code, South Carolina Bar, August 2001.

When a Bank Gets Sued: Are You Your Own Worst Enemy? a/k/a the Five Commandments of Defending Suits Against Banks, South Carolina Bankers Association 2000 Credit Conference.

A Hotel Construction Loan Primer, Practicing Law Institute, May 1999.

Leasehold Financing: Resolving Issues between Lenders, Owners and Tenants, South Carolina Bar Annual Meeting, June 1997.

Conflicting Interest in Leasehold Financing, Spring Meeting of the American Bar Association's Section of Real Property, Probate and Trust Law, May 1997.

Basic Collection Practice in South Carolina, South Carolina Bankers Association, January 1994.

Secured Lending, Robert Morris Associates, June 3, 1992.

The Closing Attorney and Conflicts of Interests, Annual Meeting of the South Carolina Bar, 1992.

Real Estate Receiverships, Annual Meeting of the South Carolina Bar, 1991.

Guaranty Agreements: Collection Issues, South Carolina Bar Mid-Year Meeting, 1990.

Lender Liability, International Association of Defense Counsel Mid-Year Meeting, Monterey, California, February 1988.

Honors:
The Best Lawyers in America, Commercial Litigation and Real Estate Law
Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business 2007 - Present, Real Estate Law
South Carolina Super Lawyers
International Who's Who of Real Estate Lawyers