Jim Falk’s funeral to be held Tuesday, May 16

By Charleston Mercury Staff

One of Charleston’s indispensable criminal attorneys and keen wits among all his peers, James Kristian Falk, 63, will be well remembered this Tuesday. Husband of Morgan McEachern Corley Falk, he died suddenly Tuesday, May 9, 2023. His funeral service will be held at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, May 16, 2023, at St. Michael’s Church, 71 Broad St.; interment will be in the churchyard. J. Henry Stuhr Funeral Home is handling the arrangements.

The family will receive friends At Home, 1 Ford Court, Charleston on Sunday and Monday from 4 to 7 p.m. A reception will follow the service and announced at that time.

Born in Chicago, Il. On Nov. 3, 1959, Jim grew up in Prospect, Ky. He was a 1977 graduate of the Kentucky Country Day School. He continued his education at Washington and Lee University where he was a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. After his graduation in 1981, he entered the Washington and Lee School of Law where Jim was a published member of the law review and a member of the international legal fraternity Phi Delta Phi. He graduated cum laude in 1984; he was admitted to the bar of the Commonwealth of Kentucky that same year and practiced at Middleton and Reutlinger for two years before joining his father in running Plastic Parts, Inc., an injection mold company; he was then owner and president of Persimmon Manufacturing, an injection mold company. He then returned to practicing law and working with his father in an international food business. While in Kentucky, he, Morgan and their boys lived on the family horse farm at Sunny Acres, Prospect, Ky. with his parents, sister, brother in law and nieces.

When in Kentucky, he was a member of St. Francis in the Fields Episcopal Church where he taught Sunday school, mentored the acolytes and ushered. He was president of the Louisville Chapter of Washington and Lee Alumni and received an award of special recognition for his service. He belonged to the Bachelor’s Society of Louisville, Harmony Landing Country Club, the Pendennis Club, the Young Presidents Association and was a Kentucky Colonel.

In 1995, one of his family’s horses, Goldseeker Bud, defeated the previous year’s Derby winner, Go for Gin, in a four-year-old’s stakes race on Derby Day and was awarded the first-place cup at Churchill Downs on Derby Day by George H.W. Bush.

In 2006, he was admitted to the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States of America.

After moving in 2008 to Charleston, his wife’s hometown, he took the S.C. Bar exam at age 50 and was admitted in 2010 to the Bar of the state of S.C.; he began a practice of criminal law where he focused almost exclusively on indigent defense where he became a dedicated advocate for his clients who could not pay for this constitutional right to representation. He also taught from time to time as an adjunct professor at the Charleston School of Law and participated in many high school moot courts around the state.

According to his attorney friends and colleagues, his knowledge of and passion for the law was remarkable. Jim spent countless hours fiercely advocating for and empathizing with his many clients. His brilliant mind, legal prowess and compassion for those he served were a benchmark of his legal career, contributing to the legal community in a significant way and will be missed.

The S.C. criminal justice system has lost a selfless, passionate and dedicated advocate for the accused. His fellow attorneys have lost an exceptional mind. His friends have lost their witty, kind and very funny companion who cared for all of them so much. His children and grandchildren have lost an exceptional and loving man. His wife has lost her lover and companion of 39 years. All those Jim touched are bereft and are comforted knowing they had 63 years of love and laughter from this gentle man.

Jim was a member of St. Michael’s Church, the Carolina Yacht Club, the Widows and Orphans Society and the St. David’s Society of Charleston. He was a former deacon in Landmark Lodge no. 76, AFM, and brother in President Rutledge Loyal Orange Lodge no. 1776. He especially adored being corresponding secretary, unofficial director of fun and former president of his supper club, which meets on Sullivan’s Island every summer.

Jim is survived by his wife of almost 39 years; three sons, George Edward Simmons Falk (Stephanie Meekus) of Louisville, Perry McCants Castleman Falk (Brooke Carson) of Atlanta, Carter Morgan Shepherd Falk of New York City; two grandchildren, Elisabeth Porter James Falk of Atlanta and George Robert Conrad Falk of Louisville; his sister, Carolyn Falk Sharpe (Neal) of Prospect, Ky.; his mother, Janet Erickson Falk of Prospect, Ky. He is also survived by a brother in law, Charles Edward Corley IV (Lucy Moloney) of Louisville, Ky.; two sisters in law, Caroline Corley Doyle (D’Arcy) of San Francisco, Ca. and Margaret Corley DeSaulnier (Dave) of Sun Valley, Id. In addition, he is survived by one nephew and six nieces; Clay Corley of Atlanta, Grace Sharpe Dringenburg (Corry) of Cincinnati, Kristen Sharpe Bryan (Chris) of LaGrange, Ky., Corley and Maggie Doyle of San Francisco, Caroline and Sara Dalton DeSaulnier (Sun Valley); and one great nephew, Andrew Mayfield of LaGrange, Ky.

He was predeceased by his father, George Walter Falk.

Memorials may be made to St. Michael’s Church, 71 Broad St., Charleston, S.C. 29401 and the National Alliance on Mental Illness South Carolina, P.O. Box 1267, Columbia, S.C. 29202.