Butler Derrick

Who is Butler Derrick?

Butler Carson Derrick, Jr. was a U.S. Representative from South Carolina.

Born in Springfield, Massachusetts, he attended the public schools in Mayesville and Florence, South Carolina. He graduated from the University of South Carolina in 1958 and earned an LL.B. from the University of Georgia Law School in 1965. He was admitted to the South Carolina bar in 1965 and commenced practice in Edgefield; he served in the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1969 to 1974, and was a delegate to the South Carolina State Democratic conventions in 1972 and 1974.

Derrick was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1974. That same year, he was elected to the House from South Carolina's 3rd congressional district, succeeding longtime congressman William Jennings Bryan Dorn. He was reelected nine times, only facing serious opposition in 1988.

He is currently a partner of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP in Washington, DC.