Mayor Knox White announced that the City of Greenville has hired Michael S. Pitts to replace long-time City Attorney Ron McKinney, who recently retired.
Pitts brings 18 years of experience in the legal profession and is a member of both the North Carolina and South Carolina Bar Associations. Pitts is a partner at Collins & Lacy, P.C. Pitts also functions as the County Attorney for Anderson County, a role he assumed in 2009 as a member at Nexsen Pruet, LLC, where he was employed for nine years. Prior to that, Pitts held positions at Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C. and Grant, Leatherwood & Pitts, P.A.
At Collins & Lacy, Pitts’ practice focuses primarily on municipal law and employment litigation. He also handles commercial and insurance litigation matters. Pitts provides legal advice to Anderson County pertaining to all aspects of its operations, including drafting legislation, FOIA issues, compliance, contract review and negotiation, procurement, negotiation and documentation of economic development incentives and land use. He is also responsible for management of outside counsel and represents the County in a variety of litigation matters.
“Mike Pitts is an experienced and talented attorney,” said Mayor White. “He brings the skills we need to keep the city moving forward, and we are all looking forward to working with him.”
Pitts has a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was made a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and received his J.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Law, where he served on the South Carolina Law Review.
Pitts’ official start date is July 31.