New gift to scholarship fund celebrates Callison Tighe’s 50th anniversary, and Mike Tighe’s birthday
COLUMBIA, S.C. – To mark the 50th anniversary of the firm’s founding, and the 80th birthday of co-founder Mike Tighe, Callison, Tighe and Robinson has made a $2,500 contribution to the Michael W. Tighe Endowed Scholarship Fund at the University of South Carolina School of Law.
The firm created the fully endowed scholarship in 2016, upon its 45th anniversary, with an endowment of $50,000.
The scholarship was announced in May of that year at a celebration of Mr. Tighe’s 75th birthday. In announcing the scholarship to the crowd of 200 people who gathered to honor Mr. Tighe, Managing Member Rick Detwiler outlined the co-founder’s contributions to both the legal profession and to the community, from cooking meals for the homeless to his service on a non-profit board of Welvista, an organization that helps assure people in need of their necessary prescription medications.
In a letter to Law School Dean William Hubbard announcing the new gift this year, Mr. Detwiler told the story of how the firm began:
“Callison Tighe began in 1971 as a partnership between Preston Callison and Mike Tighe, both graduates of the University of South Carolina School of Law. Mr. Callison served in the South Carolina Legislature. Mike was editor-in-chief of the South Carolina Law Review and the youngest-ever graduate of the Law School. Both served our country in uniform during wartime.”
Mr. Callison, who is retired, was present at the announcement of the creation of the fund in 2016. Mr. Tighe “is still hard at work for his many loyal clients, coming into the office every day,” Mr. Detwiler said in the letter to Mr. Hubbard.
Callison Tighe is a full-service law firm, with practice areas including commercial litigation and serious personal injury, commercial real estate, business, and tax, estate planning and probate. The firm includes dozens of attorneys, paralegals, legal assistants and support staff.
Mr. Tighe began practicing law 52 years ago. He joined Mr. Callison to form the firm after serving as a U.S. Air Force officer, including a tour in Korea during the Vietnam War era, and as an assistant attorney general for South Carolina. Today, he continues his practice, frequently representing title companies and their insureds, as well as handling complex commercial transactions. He is also a certified arbitrator and mediator, and frequently serves as an expert witness in real estate litigation.
He is also a timber farmer and manager of a stream mitigation credit bank.
