Robert L. Clement, Jr. was born December 14, 1928, in Charleston, SC to parents Julia Axson Thayer Clement and R. Lebby Clement. He received his B.A. in English from The Citadel in 1948 and his J.D. from Duke University School of Law in 1951, where he was a member of Delta Theta Phi.
After graduation, Bob began practicing law in Charlotte, NC as a sole practitioner. In 1953, he was called to active duty in the U.S. Air Force and served in the Judge Advocate General’s Department before returning to Charleston to resume practicing law. In 1961, he was the assistant corporate counsel for the City of Charleston and served as judge of the municipal court for the City of Charleston from 1962 until 1964. In 1965, he became a founding partner of Young Clement Rivers, LLP, which he served as managing partner until 1993 and served of counsel with the firm until 2017.
Bob was a member of the American Bar Association, Charleston County Bar Association, North Carolina Bar Association and the SC Bar, where he chaired its Corporate, Banking and Securities Law Section and Tax Law Section. He served as president of the Charleston County Bar Association; and founding member of the Charleston Lawyers Club for Young Lawyers and was its first president. He was an officer and board member of the American Law Firm Association, an international organization of law firms, where he served as chairman of the United Way’s Lawyers Division and its Governmental Division.
He was a member of the board of trustees of the Charleston Museum, where he served as president from 1980 until 1983. He served a four-year term on the Charleston County Council, where he served as chair from 1985 until 1986. He also chaired the Downtown Council, Broad Street and America Street Beautification. He was a member of the Planning & Zoning Commission of the City of Charleston for seven years and a member of the County’s Blue Ribbon Courthouse Committee and the Charleston County Aviation Authority.
He served as president and bard of the St. Andrews Society, governor of the Society of Colonial Wars, and member of the Society of Cincinnati, the Huguenot Society, the New England Society, the Carolina Yacht Club, Charleston Club and First (Scots) Presbyterian Church.
Robert L. Clement, Jr. died on June 9, 2017. He is survived by his wife Helen L. Clement; and his children, Jeanne M. Clement, Robert L. Clement, III and Thomas L. T. Clement.