Who is Valerie Fulton from Jeopardy? Meet the South Carolina Attorney Advocating for Injured and Underserved Clients

Valerie Fulton is a South Carolina attorney known for her work in personal injury, workers’ compensation, and Social Security Disability law. Based in Greenville, South Carolina, she currently practices at Fulton & Barr, P.A., a longtime Upstate law firm that has represented injured individuals and families since its founding in 1983.

Her appearance on Jeopardy! introduces viewers to a contestant with an impressive academic and professional background rooted in law, public service, and multilingual advocacy. Throughout her career, Fulton has emphasized helping clients navigate difficult legal and insurance systems while providing personalized representation to people facing injuries, disabilities, and financial hardship.

Fluent in English and Spanish and highly proficient in Portuguese, Fulton is particularly recognized for serving underserved and Spanish-speaking communities throughout Upstate South Carolina. Her work reflects a broader commitment to accessibility and community engagement within the legal profession.

In recent years, she has also earned growing professional recognition, including being named a Super Lawyers Rising Star from 2024 through 2026, an honor awarded to only a small percentage of attorneys nationwide.

Growing Up Academically Focused and Studying at Wofford College

Valerie Fulton is estimated to have been born around 1990 or 1991 and grew up in the United States before eventually establishing her legal career in South Carolina.

She attended Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina, where she graduated magna cum laude in 2013. Her undergraduate studies combined History and Spanish, along with a concentration in Latin American and Caribbean Studies.

This academic combination reflected both intellectual curiosity and a strong interest in language, culture, and international perspectives. Studying history and Latin American studies often involves analyzing political systems, social movements, cultural identity, and historical development across different regions and societies.

Fulton’s focus on Spanish language studies also became a defining aspect of her later professional work. Her multilingual abilities would eventually allow her to serve a wider range of clients, particularly within South Carolina’s growing Spanish-speaking communities.

During her college years, she also attended Middlebury College’s renowned Brazilian Portuguese immersion program in 2011. Middlebury’s language immersion schools are widely respected for their intensive language-learning environments, helping students develop advanced communication skills through full cultural and linguistic immersion.

Her academic achievements at Wofford reflected both strong scholarship and a broader commitment to cultural understanding and communication.

Earning Her Law Degree at Washington and Lee University

After graduating from Wofford College, Valerie Fulton attended Washington and Lee University School of Law in Virginia, where she earned her Juris Doctor degree in 2017.

She graduated cum laude, continuing the strong academic performance that had defined her undergraduate years.

While in law school, Fulton held several leadership positions and became deeply involved in student organizations and public service activities. She served as Co-President of the Women Law Students Organization and worked as a Head Hearing Advisor, demonstrating both leadership and mentorship skills within the law school community.

She also participated in organizations including the American Constitution Society and Phi Delta Phi, one of the nation’s oldest legal honor societies.

Law school experiences like these often help shape students’ professional identities while providing opportunities to engage in advocacy, policy discussions, and legal ethics.

Fulton’s academic and extracurricular involvement reflected a commitment not only to legal excellence but also to leadership, collaboration, and service-oriented work.

Gaining Experience Through Clerkships and Internships

Before beginning private practice, Valerie Fulton built extensive legal experience through clerkships, internships, and public service roles.

She worked as a law clerk to Judge Donald B. Hocker within the South Carolina Judicial Department, gaining firsthand experience with courtroom procedure, judicial decision-making, and legal research.

Judicial clerkships are highly respected within the legal profession because they provide young attorneys with direct exposure to litigation processes and legal analysis at the court level.

Fulton also gained experience through internships and clerkships with several prominent organizations and offices, including Motley Rice, one of the country’s best-known plaintiffs’ law firms, and the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina under Judge Richard M. Gergel.

Additionally, she interned with Senator Lindsey Graham’s office and the South Carolina Victim Assistance Network, experiences that exposed her to both legislative work and victim advocacy.

These varied legal experiences helped prepare her for a career focused on client advocacy and litigation while broadening her understanding of public policy, judicial systems, and community support services.

Working at Ogletree Deakins Before Joining Fulton & Barr

After law school, Valerie Fulton worked as an associate attorney at Ogletree Deakins in Columbia, South Carolina.

Ogletree Deakins is one of the nation’s largest labor and employment law firms, and Fulton’s work there focused primarily on employment litigation. Employment litigation often involves disputes connected to workplace discrimination, labor regulations, wrongful termination, and employment rights.

During this period, she also published professional legal writing, including the article “Combatting the Shortage of Home Care Workers: Going Co-Op?” for Ogletree Deakins Insights in 2017.

Her work at Ogletree helped expand her litigation and legal research experience while exposing her to complex workplace and employment law matters.

In June 2019, Fulton joined Fulton & Barr, P.A. in Greenville, South Carolina, where she shifted her focus toward personal injury, workers’ compensation, and Social Security Disability representation.

The transition aligned closely with her broader interest in advocacy and helping individuals navigate difficult legal and financial circumstances.

Advocating for Injured and Underserved Communities

At Fulton & Barr, Valerie Fulton’s legal work centers on representing individuals who have been injured, disabled, or denied benefits.

Her practice areas include personal injury law, workers’ compensation claims, and Social Security Disability cases, all areas that often involve clients facing physical, emotional, and financial hardship.

Attorneys in these fields frequently help clients deal with insurance companies, medical documentation, disability claims, workplace injuries, and court proceedings.

One of the most notable aspects of Fulton’s work is her focus on underserved and Spanish-speaking communities throughout Upstate South Carolina.

Because she is fluent in Spanish and highly proficient in Portuguese, she has been able to assist clients who may otherwise struggle to access legal services due to language barriers. This multilingual ability has become an important part of her legal identity and community advocacy efforts.

Her work emphasizes personalized representation and helping clients understand complicated legal systems during stressful periods in their lives.

Fulton’s combination of legal knowledge, language skills, and community engagement has helped distinguish her within the South Carolina legal community.

Recognition as a Rising Star Attorney

Valerie Fulton’s growing professional reputation has been reflected through several legal honors and affiliations.

Most notably, she was recognized as a Super Lawyers Rising Star from 2024 through 2026. The Rising Stars distinction is awarded to a small percentage of attorneys who demonstrate professional achievement and peer recognition early in their careers.

She is also a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Delta Phi, reflecting both academic and legal excellence.

Beyond legal practice, Fulton has remained involved in civic and educational organizations. She has served on the board of the Mosaic Educational and Arts Program and is affiliated with the Stanford E. Lacy American Inn of Court, an organization focused on professionalism and ethics within the legal field.

Her volunteer work has included mentoring youth, teaching financial literacy through Junior Achievement, supporting Big Brothers Big Sisters initiatives, and assisting immigrant communities through translation and advocacy services.

These activities reflect a longstanding commitment to public service and community involvement beyond the courtroom.

Valerie Fulton’s Jeopardy! Appearance

Valerie Fulton’s appearance on Jeopardy! highlights the strong analytical thinking and broad knowledge base often associated with attorneys and legal professionals.

Contestants on the iconic quiz show frequently come from academically demanding professions, and Fulton’s background in law, languages, history, and advocacy makes her an especially compelling example.

Her legal career has required extensive research, communication, public speaking, and problem-solving skills, all qualities that can translate well into quiz competition environments.

For viewers, Fulton represents a modern attorney whose work extends beyond legal representation into community advocacy, multilingual outreach, and public service.

Whether helping injured clients in South Carolina, supporting underserved communities, mentoring students, or competing on Jeopardy!, Valerie Fulton has built a career centered on advocacy, communication, and service.