Event Information

Jessica O’Neill Gooding grew up in Conway, South Carolina, a small town where high school football games were important community events and people could be counted on to help their neighbors. After high school, Jess attended University of South Carolina’s Darla Moore School of Business. Jess graduated in 2010 with highest honors as a summa cum laude graduate and with an honors degree from the South Carolina honors college. 

Jess then attended University of South Carolina School of Law and earned her Juris Doctorate with high honors, magna cum laude, in 2013. While in law school, Jess served as a Peer Mentor, a Law School Ambassador, and the Symposium Editor for the South Carolina Law Review. Jess was inducted into both of the School of Law’s prestigious honor societies, the Order of the Coif and the Order of the Wig and Robe. 

Immediately following graduation, Jess joined a Columbia firm and began practicing with the Employment and Personal Injury Litigation teams. Jess had the opportunity to represent clients in state and federal courts, as well as before administrative agencies at the state and federal level. She served as a first chair trial attorney in personal injury cases even in those early years of practice. In 2016, Jess joined Goings Law Firm, where she has continued to build on her courtroom and trial experience, both through formal training and by representing clients in various types of trials. She has been recognized as an up-and-coming trial attorney by Columbia Business Monthly and Super Lawyers Magazines, among other accolades. 

Jess is active in the community and the profession, and she has served on several committees in South Carolina Bar’s Young Lawyer Division. She stays connected to the law school by working closely with student organizations and serving as an attorney mentor to first year law students each year. Jess is also the Chair of the Membership Committee for the South Carolina Women Lawyers Association and has served on the Editorial Board for the Richland County Bar Newsletter. 

Jess’s husband, Ben, is also an attorney. They have two children and two Labrador Retrievers, who keep them busy! When away from the office, Jess and Ben enjoy attending college football games, cooking, and entertaining friends. Whenever they can, the Goodings enjoy traveling to a family farm in Georgia — who doesn’t love a good tractor ride, after all?

Kenneth Berger has dedicated his professional life to protecting the rights, lives, and dignity of those who have been harmed. After studying at the University of Washington and Harvard University, Mr. Berger returned to South Carolina to serve the community that raised him. A graduate of USC Law, Mr. Berger has been representing injured people and their families since his first day in practice. Mr. Berger's practice areas include personal injury and wrongful death. He is a member of the American Association for Justice's Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, and has been recognized as a Rising Star by Super Lawyers and as one of South Carolina's Outstanding Young Lawyers  by Top Attorneys. 

Mr. Stanley attended the University of South Carolina where he received his B.S. in Business Administration. Upon completing his bachelor’s degree, Mr. Stanley earned a Master’s in Business Administration and a Master’s in Information Science from North Carolina Central University in Durham, North Carolina. Following the completion of his Master’s degrees in 2010, Mr. Stanley attended law school at Florida A&M University College of Law in Orlando, Florida, where he received his Juris Doctorate. Upon graduation from law school (and prior to joining the Stanley Law Group) Mr. Stanley practiced with a personal injury law firm in Orlando, Florida, where he tried several personal injury cases to verdict. Mr. Stanley has been recognized by the National Academy of Personal Injury Attorneys as a Top 10 Under 40 Personal Injury Lawyer, as a Legal Elite, a prestigious list compiled by Columbia Business Monthly Magazine, and as a Premiere Attorney by Columbia Metropolitan Magazine. Mr. Stanley was also instrumental in The Stanley Law Group’s inclusion on Inc. Magazine’s list of the Fastest-Growing Private Companies in the nation. Lastly, Mr. Stanley has recently been recognized on the exclusive Super Lawyers List and was selected as a Super Lawyers Rising Start for 2021. Mr. Stanley is licensed to practice law in the states of South Carolina and Florida.

Melissa Mosier is an attorney at Joye Law Firm who takes on tough personal injury and wrongful death cases.  Melissa has successfully litigated not just personal injury cases but also insurance coverage disputes and appellate matters before both of South Carolina’s appellate courts. 

In 2018, Melissa was part of a trial team that secured a $17 million dollar verdict in Charleston for a young family of three killed on their way home from vacation when an 18 wheeler barreled down Interstate 95 near Florence, South Carolina.  Before the trial began, she prevailed in her efforts to pierce the corporate veil and keep a top global 3PL carrier as a defendant in the case.   

Education 

Melissa grew up in North Charleston in a family of Cuban immigrants. She graduated magna cum laude from the University of South Carolina Honors College in 2007 with a bachelor’s in criminal justice and criminology and a minor in Spanish.  She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, an invitation-only organization that recognizes exceptional academic achievement at a college or university. 

Melissa received her law degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 2010.While in law school she was the five-time winner of the CALI Award in the areas of consumer law; energy law and the environment; immigration law; issues in civil rights and legal history; and interviewing, counseling and negotiation.

Away from work, Melissa enjoys spending time with her husband and their three young children and spending time outdoors in her backyard garden. 

Professional Activities and Honors 

Listed as a South Carolina Super Lawyers Rising Star, 2015-2020

Recognized by Best Lawyers in America – 2020 - 2022

Active Member of the South Carolina Bar’s Professional Responsibility Committee

Current Editor of the South Carolina Association for Justice’s Justice Bulletin publication

Member of the SC Association for Justice Board of Governors

Volunteer judge through South Carolina Bar’s Law Related Education Program, which seeks to encourage students in middle school and high school to pursue law by introducing them to role models.

Mentor, South Carolina Bar mentor for new attorneys starting to practice law

Mentor, University of South Carolina School of Law 1L mentor program (2019-2021)

Member of the American Association for Justice Trucking Litigation Group

Attorney Jason Reynolds has a passion for helping people. Along with his work in the community and schools, Jason channels his passion for helping injured people get the medical treatment they need and fair compensation from those that caused their injuries. To that end, Jason has handled complex personal injury cases for well over a decade. Jason began his legal career with a large firm, where he spent eight years practicing on the defense side of personal injury litigation (primarily defending large corporations and national trucking companies in catastrophic injury cases). His experience on the defense side gives him a unique perspective and knowledge base which he now uses to maximize the results for his clients. Jason focuses his practice in the areas of personal injury, wrongful death, tractor-trailer accidents, serious automobile accidents, premises liability (slip and fall), and nursing home abuse and neglect. 

SuperLawyers® named Jason a Rising Star in South Carolina in 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017 based on his successes in helping his clients. Jason is admitted to practice in all courts in South Carolina; U.S. District Court, District of South Carolina; and the United States 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. He has tried cases involving personal injuries in multiple courts and has handled personal injury cases all over the United States. 

Born and raised in Columbia, SC, Jason received his B.A. from The Citadel in Charleston, SC, and J.D. from the University of South Carolina in Columbia. Jason is also heavily involved in the community serving on multiple committees for the City of Columbia and on the governing boards for Young Life Columbia Downtown and Haiti Under God. Jason lives in Columbia with his wife Anne and their four children; Allison, Eliza, Emma, and Charlie. A competitor at heart, when he’s not practicing law you can find Jason coaching one of his children’s sports teams or coaching football on Friday nights in the fall for Ben Lippen School.