R. Wilder Harte

Wilder Harte is a shareholder attorney, based in Richardson Plowden’s Columbia office. With a statewide practice, has appeared in almost every jurisdiction in South Carolina state and federal courts. He is a member of Richardson Plowden’s General Litigation and Medical Malpractice practice groups.

Wilder’s civil litigation experience is broad and includes cases handled to completion in the following areas: premises liability; automobile and commercial trucking litigation; products liability; dram shop; assisted living and skilled nursing home defense; medical malpractice; defense of municipalities and other state subdivisions; Tort Claims Act cases; commercial disputes; and catastrophic personal injury cases. No matter the subject, Wilder strives to provide consistent, comprehensive, factual investigation, and high-quality legal analysis to every client at every stage of every case.

Prior to joining Richardson Plowden, Wilder served as an Assistant Solicitor in the Second Circuit Solicitor’s Office, working in Aiken, Barnwell, and Bamberg Counties from 2014 to 2016. In 2015, he received the J. Strom Thurmond Award for Solicitor of the Year. From 2013 to 2014, Wilder served as law clerk to the Honorable Perry M. Buckner (retired).

Wilder’s experience includes:

• Long-time counsel to a municipality in a wide variety of high-exposure personal injury and death claims, commercial disputes, and constitutional claims.

• Long-time counsel to a conglomerate of skilled nursing and assisted living facilities in a wide variety of fall, wound, and elopement claims.

• Long-time counsel to a commercial trucking company in a wide variety of high-exposure personal injury, death, and property damage claims.

• Obtained summary judgment in an alleged allergen exposure case on behalf of a regional grocery store chain.

• Coordinated numerous rapid response investigations to commercial trucking accident scenes.

• Successful investigation, defense, and resolution of significant high-exposure personal injury and death claims in a wide variety of complex circumstances.

Professional Memberships

• Member, South Carolina Bar
• Member and Former Chair, SC Bar’s Publications Committee
• Member and Former Chair, SC Bar Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection
• Member, Defense Research Institute (DRI)
• Member, Richland County Bar Association
• Member, South Carolina Defense Trial Attorneys’ Association

Awards, Honors, and Accolades

• 2026 – 2024, South Carolina Rising Star by South Carolina Super Lawyers for Civil Litigation: Defense
• 2013, Robert T. Bockman Award, USC School of Law
• 2011, First Place Team, USC School of Law Mock Trial Competition