Natalma M. McKnew

Ms. McKnew concentrates her practice in the areas of antitrust, franchising and dealerships, and intellectual property. Among the lawsuits she has handled are dealer and franchise termination cases, breakaway franchisees, franchisee termination and de-identification, post-termination enforcement, Sherman Act Section 1 and 2 actions in various industries (e.g., manufacturing, supermarket, insurance, real estate), trademark infringement, patent infringement, copyright infringement, and trade secret misappropriation. In addition, she handles franchise formation, distribution arrangements, and trademark proceedings.

Ms. McKnew has one daughter who is the pride and joy of her life and enjoys hiking, cooking, theater, dance and foreign travel. She skis badly, but gamely.  In her next life, she would like to run an occasional Asian restaurant, where she can freely exercise her passion for Asian cuisine.

Bar Admissions & Memberships

• South Carolina
• Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals
• Federal Circuit Court of Appeals
• United States Supreme Court

Education

• University of California, Santa Barbara, B.A., English, 1971
• University of California, Los Angeles, M.A., Linguistics and Literature, 1973
• Northeastern University School of Law, J.D., 1978

Civic & Charitable Activities

Ms. McKnew’s community activities include service as the 2008 Chair of the United Way Campaign for Greenville County; 2006 Vice-Chair of the Greenville County United Way; the Board of Attorneys Liability Protection Association (ALPS), a risk retention group; the Board of United Way of Greenville County (2008); the Clement's Kindness Advisory Board; the Board of Trustees of the South Carolina Nature Conservancy (Chair 2003-2005); and the Board of the Priester Foundation.

Past community activities include the Board of the Greenville Tech Foundation (President 2004-2006); the Board of the Warehouse Theatre (President 2001-2003); Leadership Greenville Class XXIV; the Boards of the Greater Greenville Chamber of Commerce, the Metropolitan Arts Council, the Greenville Symphony Orchestra, the Greenville Ballet, and the Board of Regents of Leadership Greenville; gubernatorial appointment to the Eminent Domain Study Committee (2007).

Publications

Ms. McKnew is the author of  “Franchise Litigation” in South Carolina Jurisprudence; co-author of  “The Health Care Cooperation Act: Panacea or Peril?”, South Carolina Law Review, Vol. 47, Spring 1996; and a contributing author to the Franchise Desk Book, (2d ed.), W. Michael Garner, Ed. (ABA, 2008)

Professional Activities

• Ms. McKnew has been a member of the ABA Forum on Franchising since 1980 and a member of the ABA Section on Antitrust since 1979. She is also a member of the ABA Sections on Litigation and Intellectual Property, and of the AIPLA.

Accolades

• Ms. McKnew is recognized as one of the Best Lawyers in America in the category of franchise law. She is a frequent speaker at Continuing Legal Education and other legal seminars, and was on the founding Board of the South Carolina Women Lawyer's Association.