Roy Willey

Roy T. Willey IV (born 1987) is an American attorney and partner at the law firm Poulin Willey Anastopoulo in Charleston, South Carolina. He specializes in personal injury litigation, class action lawsuits, and civil rights cases.

Early life and education

Willey was born in 1987. He attended Harvard University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in American government and politics. At Harvard, he was active in student politics and co-authored opinion pieces urging campus reform. Later, he earned his Juris Doctor from Charleston School of Law. During law school, Willey founded the Society of the Gavel, a merit-based organization for student collaboration.

Career

In 2014, Willey represented the estate of Frank "Randy" Bales in a wrongful death case. The Charleston County Court of Common Pleas jury awarded $50 million ($20 million in actual damages and $30 million in punitive damages). It was the highest actual-damage verdict in Charleston County history at that time.

From January 2016 to June 2017, Willey served as an advisor to Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg.

In 2020, Willey helped launch nationwide COVID-19 pandemic tuition-refund litigation, filing suits on behalf of students at Columbia University, Pace University, Temple University and Suffolk University who claimed breach of contract when in-person instruction moved online.

He served as lead counsel in Benjamin Ramey et al. v. The Pennsylvania State University, which resulted in a $17 million settlement. He also secured a $12.5 million settlement with Columbia University in Student A v. The Board of Trustees of Columbia University.

In November 2021, he obtained a $10 million jury verdict against Walmart in a case involving an amputee.

In February 2025, Willey acted as lead counsel for Dawn Conley, mother of 17-year-old [...] victim Brittanee Drexel, in a Georgetown County civil action against confessed [...] Raymond Moody; the jury returned a US $700 million award, US $200 million in compensatory damages and US $500 million in punitive damages.

Willey has also handled several civil-rights cases, including litigation that resulted in the South Carolina Secessionist Party being ordered to disband.

Personal life

Willey resides on Sullivan's Island, South Carolina, with his wife Kelsey O. Willey, an attorney practicing probate and personal-injury law. The couple has two children.