Timothy C. Kulp is the owner and founding partner of Kulp & Elliott in Charleston, South Carolina. A native of South Carolina, he earned his J.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1978 and has spent more than four decades working in criminal law and trial advocacy.

After law school, Mr. Kulp served as a Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Miami. In 1980, he returned to South Carolina and joined the Ninth Judicial Circuit Solicitor’s Office as an Assistant Solicitor before later serving as the City of Charleston’s prosecutor. He subsequently served as a municipal judge after entering private practice in Charleston, where he has focused extensively on criminal defense and DUI matters.

He has presented at legal seminars on multiple occasions within South Carolina and in Louisiana, Georgia, Missouri and Nevada.

Mr. Kulp has handled matters in courts throughout South Carolina and has appellate experience before the South Carolina Court of Appeals, the South Carolina Supreme Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He has also been active in South Carolina’s criminal-defense bar and remains involved in professional education and criminal-law organizations.

Mr. Kulp has represented clients in five death penalty cases after appointment by General Sessions Court judges in Dorchester, Calhoun, and Beaufort Counties.

Mr. Kulp first achieved board certification in Criminal Trial Advocacy in 1999 and has since achieved recertification through the National Board of Trial Advocacy eight times. He is now one of three attorneys in South Carolina who are board certified in Criminal Trial Advocacy. Board certification requires substantial trial experience, peer review, continuing legal education, and examination. This credential recognizes an objective measure of advanced experience in criminal trial practice.

Mr. Kulp continues to contribute to the South Carolina legal community. He serves on the South Carolina Bar Criminal Law Section Council for 2026–2027 and was a faculty member for the South Carolina Bar’s 2024 and 2026 Criminal Practice in South Carolina week-long trial colleges, where he presented on current issues for criminal practitioners.

When not advocating on behalf of others, Mr. Kulp enjoys spending time traveling, and enjoying the outdoors anywhere on Johns Island with his wife, Katie and their two sons, William and Jack.

Learn more about Timothy Kulp’s National Board of Trial Advocacy certification and the standards associated with board certification in criminal trial law.