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Robert Frenz practices in the areas of Estate Planning, Probate Administration, and Mental Health issues in his home of Charleston.  A graduate of The Citadel and the Charleston School of Law, he has been a member of the South Carolina Bar since 2013.  Earlier this year, he started his own practice, E. Robert Frenz, Attorney at Law, LLC, and continues to serve clients both in the Lowcountry and beyond.  He is happily married to Allie Frenz, née Smith, also of Charleston.  His hobbies include word working and golfing—two passions he inherited from his dad and granddad—which he is also passing down to his five year old son Edward.

Judge Heather Galvin graduated from Kent State University with a Bachelor of Arts in political science where she was a member of the Golden Key National Honor Society and the Delta Zeta Sorority. She obtained her Juris Doctor from the Cleveland Marshall College of Law at Cleveland State University and is admitted to the practice of law in Ohio, South Carolina, and Washington D.C. Prior to moving to South Carolina; she worked for LexisNexis as an Applications Consultant and Senior Legal Research Associate. Upon relocating to South Carolina, Judge Galvin served as an Assistant Solicitor for the 14th Judicial Circuit. In 2007, she opened the Law Offices of Heather Galvin focusing on the areas of family and probate law. As part of her practice, she had the opportunity to serve as part-time Staff Attorney for the Beaufort County Probate Court; contract attorney for the Guardian ad litem programs in Allendale, Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton, and Jasper Counties in abuse and neglect proceedings involving children; and pro-bono Special Prosecutor in Beaufort County for animal cruelty cases.   In October of 2012, she was sworn in as full-time Associate Probate Judge for Beaufort County where she served until her election as Probate Judge in 2023.  She is the Second Vice President of the South Carolina Association of Probate Judges and a member of the Executive Committee of the National College of Probate Judges. In her spare time, she enjoys jogging, swimming, Pilates, and tennis.

Ashley Twombley attended law school at the University of South Carolina where he served as the Managing Editor of the South Carolina Law Review. He then clerked for the Honorable Margaret B. Seymour in the United States District Court. Following his clerkship, he joined the Atlanta office of King & Spalding where he represented Fortune 100 companies in high exposure products liability and related tort litigation.

In 2006, Mr. Twombley moved to Beaufort and formed Twenge + Twombley Law Firm.  A large part of Ashley’s practice is dedicated to high net worth trust and estate litigation. Mr. Twombley is frequently retained by other attorneys to assist with administering complex trusts and estates or handle litigation involving trust, estate, and related fiduciary issues.

Mr. Twombley holds an AV Preeminent rating with Martindale Hubble, has been named a SC Super Lawyer since 2015, and is a permanent member of the Fourth Circuit Judicial Conference.

Joanne Marcus has a master’s degree in social work and serves as the President and CEO of Commonwealth Community Trust (CCT). Ms. Marcus brings to CCT over 37 years of experience in nonprofit administration. At CCT, she served as Executive Director for 22 years before being named President and CEO.

The mission of CCT is to provide people with special needs who live throughout the United States, and their families, a convenient, cost-effective framework for the administration of both Third-Party and First-Party PSNTs that supplement government entitlement programs such as SSI and Medicaid. Under the leadership of Ms. Marcus, CCT has grown to serve over 2,000 trust beneficiaries throughout the United States.

As a speaker, Ms. Marcus is frequently asked to make presentations to national and regional professional associations and Universities such as: the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA), Academy of Special Needs Planners (ASNP), Virginia Trial Lawyers Association (VTLA), North Carolina Advocates for Justice, Financial Planning Association of Central Virginia, American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys (AAEPA), Stetson University College of Law, and The University of Texas School of Law.

Ms. Marcus has published articles on a variety of topics related to Special Needs Trust Planning and Pooled Special Needs Trusts. The following are a few examples: “How the Elder Law Attorney Can Help the Personal Injury Attorney” (NAELA News), “Nesting a Medicare Set-Aside Inside a Pooled Special Needs Trust (NAMSAP), “The Disbursement Process” (NAELA News), “Enriching Quality of Life and Protecting Medicaid and SSI” (Veteran Family Matters), and “The Benefits of a Pooled Special Needs Trust (NAMI Voice).

jmarcus@trustCCT.org

Leigh Powers Boan is a lifelong resident of Georgetown County. She is married to Jason P. Boan, and they reside in Pawleys Island, South Carolina with their three children.

Judge Boan graduated from the University of South Carolina in 1996 with a degree in Marketing and Business Information Systems. She received her Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 2000 and was admitted to the South Carolina Bar the same year.

Judge Boan began her legal career as Law Clerk to the Honorable Paula H. Thomas of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit. She then practiced law with the Bagnal Law Firm for three years before joining McNair Law Firm, P.A. in June 2004 where she practiced until joining the Bench in 2017 as Probate Judge for Georgetown County. In addition to the South Carolina Bar, she is also admitted to practice in the United States District Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Judge Boan presently serves on the Probate Judges Advisory Committee for the state of South Carolina and is a past President of the South Carolina Probate Judges Association.  She is an active member of Prince George Winyah Church in Georgetown and has served as Board Member and Treasurer   of the Georgetown  County  School  of  Arts  and  Sciences,  past  President  of  the Georgetown County Literacy Council, and former Board Member of the Georgetown Performing Dance Arts Foundation.

Mary Frances Jowers is an Assistant Deputy Attorney General at the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office.  In addition to handling charitable trust matters, she supervises the antitrust unit of the Consumer Protection and Antitrust Section. 

Mary Frances earned a B.A. summa cum laude, in government and political economy and philosophy from Wofford College.  She earned her J.D. from the USC School of Law.  While in law school, she served on the editorial staff of the South Carolina Law Review.  Following law school, she served as a law clerk for Circuit Court Judge John M. Milling.  She also served as staff attorney at the South Carolina Court of Appeals.  She was in private practice for three years before joining the Attorney General’s Office in 2006.

Commissioner James was appointed to the SC Worker’s Compensation Commission on April 26, 2012.  Before serving on the Commission, Commissioner James was a partner in the law firm Mozingo & James, practicing primarily workers’ compensation defense.  Commissioner James is a 1984 graduate of the University of South Carolina with a B.S. in Accounting, and a 1987 graduate of the University of South Carolina School of Law.  In addition to practicing law, Commissioner James served as municipal judge for the City of Cayce from 1988 until her appointment to the Commission.

Olivia M. Wong J.D. serves as Director of Education of Commonwealth Community Trust (CCT).  While in private practice, she specialized in trust and estate planning and elder law. She brings six years of experience as executive director of a state-wide non-profit organization that administers pooled and community special needs trusts. She enjoys educating attorneys and families about pooled special needs planning. 

Rebecca Hartner is an Assistant Attorney General in the Consumer Protection and Antitrust Section of the South Carolina Attorney General's Office.  In this capacity, she works to enforce the South Carolina Unfair Trade Practices Act and handles charitable trust matters.  Before joining the Attorney General's Office in 2016, she served as a staff attorney at the South Carolina Court of Appeals.  Rebecca earned a J.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 2013.  She graduated from Davidson College in 2010 with a B.A. in history and a minor in French.      

S. Leslie McIntosh is a partner with McIntosh Sherard & Sullivan, located in Anderson. She earned her Juris Doctor from Charleston School of Law in 2013. She earned a B.S. in Business Administration – Marketing and a B.A. in Communication Studies from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington in 2006. She is admitted to practice law in South Carolina. Leslie’s practice focuses primarily on probate, estate planning, trusts, and elder law.

Leslie serves in a number of capacities with the South Carolina Bar, including, but not limited to, being a member of the House of Delegates, the Nominating Committee, the SC Probate Planning, Estate and Trust Section Council, and the Commission on Judicial Conduct. She serves as the Chair of the Conventions Committee. She is a Past President of the Anderson County Bar Association. She was awarded with the America Bar Association’s YLD’s 2023 Top 40 On the Rise award, the South Carolina Bar YLD 2021-2022 Grady B. Anthony Public Service Award, the 2022 ATHENA Young Professional Leadership Award by the Anderson Area Chamber of Commerce and was selected as Anderson’s 2022 Top 20 Under 40 for her service to her community. Leslie was selected as the 2020 South Carolina Women Lawyers Association Emerging Leader. She is a graduate of Leadership South Carolina and Leadership Anderson. 

Attorney Thomas Ray Sims was employed by the Department of Health Education and Welfare in the Child and Family Mental Health Division in Washington DC. He graduated from Catholic University School of law in 1978.  Mr. Sims was admitted to the Mississippi Bar in 1978 and admitted to practice in the Federal District Courts and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Mr. Sims worked as staff attorney for North Mississippi Rural Legal Service in Greenville Mississippi.  His major area of concentration was federal litigation and family matters in the Chancery Courts of Mississippi.
In 1981, Mr. Sims moved to South Carolina as managing attorney for the Orangeburg office of Palmetto Legal Service. He was again involved in both Federal and State litigation and in domestic and civil litigation.
In 1982, Mr. Sims was employed with the First Circuit Solicitors office as an assistant Solicitor. His initial responsibility was in the Family Court. Later, he was moved to the Court of General Sessions and my responsibility was prosecution of major crimes.  Mr. Sims was deputy Solicitor and upon the retirement of the Solicitor he was appointed acting Solicitor by Attorney General Travis Medlock.
After running for Solicitor and not winning, he went into private practice.  Mr. Sims practice is a general practice involving Family law, Civil law, Probate law and other areas. When a Family Court Judgeship in the First Circuit became available, he ran for the position. 
Mr. Sims has been married for forty years, and has two children and two grandchildren.  He is also a part-time local pastor in the United Methodist Church and a life member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity.
 

Tim Mercer served in the United States Marine Corps Reserves from 2009 to 2015, when he attended the University of South Carolina School of law, graduating in 2018. Since being sworn into the South Carolina Bar in November 2018, and then the New York Bar in August 2021, Tim has exclusively practiced in the area of Veterans’ Disability at the AOJ, Board of Veterans Appeals, and the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims levels. Tim Recently opened up an Albany, New York office for Bluestein Attorneys, but still maintains a presence at the home office in Columbia, SC.  

W. Michael Duncan was born in Columbia, South Carolina.  Mike obtained a Bachelor of Science degree, cum laude, in Business Management from Erskine College in 1987. In December 1993, he graduated from the University of South Carolina Law School with a Juris Doctorate. In May 1994, Mike was admitted to the South Carolina Bar and the United States District Court for South Carolina. He was admitted the next year to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.  He practiced with the law firm of Austin, Lewis & Rogers in Columbia for over twenty years.  Mike is a member of the South Carolina Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (SCACDL). 

Mike is married to the former Margaret Elizabeth “Meg” Kohler.  Mike and Meg are the parents of twin daughters, Laura Duncan Kimball and Elizabeth Duncan Heydary. They are also the grandparents of three young grandchildren.  

In April 2015, Mike was admitted to the North Carolina Bar.  He and his daughter Elizabeth Heydary began practicing law together in August 2020 as Duncan and Heydary Law, PLLC.  In October 2021, Mike and Meg moved to Greensboro, North Carolina to be near their children and grandchildren. 

Mike has extensive litigation experience in both criminal and civil cases in Federal and State courts. He has argued multiple cases before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Richmond, VA.  He has experience in probate law, workers’ compensation and personal injury.  He has lectured numerous times on probate issues to legal professionals, including a May 2018 presentation to the SC Probate Judges.