South Carolina lawyer and Rep. Marvin Pendarvis, D-North Charleston, stands accused of legal malpractice for allegedly misleading a client and forging legal documents. (Jessica Holdman/SC Daily Gazette)
COLUMBIA — A South Carolina legislator has resigned his state House seat representing North Charleston amid an ongoing lawsuit from a former legal client.
Democrat Marvin Pendarvis, an attorney, turned in his resignation Monday, effective immediately.
His departure from the Statehouse comes five months after a former client sued him, claiming Pendarvis settled his lawsuit without his knowledge, forged his signature for the $10,000 settlement, and then tried to buy him off to prevent the allegations from becoming public.
The day after Adrian Lewis filed his complaint in April, the State Law Enforcement Division confirmed an investigation into Pendarvis. In May, the state Supreme Court suspended his law license.
“Serving in the South Carolina House of Representatives has been the honor of my life,” Pendarvis wrote in his resignation letter to House Speaker Murrell Smith, dated Sept. 16 and provided to the SC Daily Gazette on Thursday.
“Because of my respect for this body and for the residents of my district, I have made the difficult decision to resign from my seat,” reads the three-sentence resignation. “The residents of District 113 deserve a representative who can devote full time to their needs, and I cannot do that at this time.”
The letter provides no further information about why Pendarvis chose to resign now. First elected in a 2017 special election, he faced no opposition for re-election this year.
The SC Daily Gazette was unable to immediately reach Pendarvis or his attorneys for comment.
An attorney for Lewis, Ronald Richter, said the lawsuit against the now-former legislator continues.
Former Rep. Marvin Pendarvis, D-North Charleston, (on the upper right) walks down the Statehouse steps with his fellow legislators before the inauguration ceremony in Columbia, S.C. on Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023. (File/Travis Bell/STATEHOUSE CAROLINA/Special to the SC Daily Gazette)
Pendarvis, who was admitted to the South Carolina Bar in 2014, represented Lewis in a 2021 unlawful arrest lawsuit against the Dorchester County Sheriff’s Office.
According to Lewis’ lawsuit against Pendarvis, Pendarvis largely ignored Lewis while representing him, and then settled the case without his permission.
Lewis received a pair of checks — one for $5,000 in December 2023 and another for $1,666.67 in March 2024 — with no explanation from Pendarvis, only the promise that he “had a lot more money coming.” The checks were simply marked “disbursement,” according to the lawsuit.
What Lewis said he did not realize at the time is that the case had already been settled by Pendarvis.
According to his lawsuit, Lewis found out in March only because he called the sheriff’s department attorney, and that lawyer gave him a copy of the settlement document. He alleges the document includes a forgery of his signature, along with witness signatures from Pendarvis. The lawsuit includes the signatures as exhibits.
Even though Pendarvis has resigned, the State Election Commission has not yet received an official withdrawal notice. So, he’s officially still a candidate for re-election.
Regardless, it’s too late to take him off November ballots, which are already finalized and will shortly be mailed to overseas voters, according to the election agency.
The timeline for a special election to replace Pendarvis won’t be finalized until the agency receives the withdrawal notice.
Senior reporter Jessica Holdman contributed to this story. This is breaking story and will be updated.
This is a developing story. Check back for details.