Event Information

Barbara Seymour represents lawyers, law firms, judges, and law students in matters related to ethics, professional discipline, and Bar admissions at Clawson & Staubes, LLC. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Management and Marketing from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 1990 and her Juris Doctor from the University of Georgia in 1993. Barbara worked as a trial lawyer until 2000 when she joined the staff of the Office of Disciplinary Counsel. She served as the Deputy Disciplinary Counsel from 2007 until 2017. Barbara is a member of the South Carolina Bar, the State Bar of Georgia, the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers, the ABA Center for Professional Responsibility, and the South Carolina Women Lawyers Association. She currently serves on the Law Related Education, Professional Responsibility, Unauthorized Practice of Law, and Diversity Committees at the South Carolina Bar. She was a 2006 and 2011 Fellow of the National Institute for the Teaching of Ethics and Professionalism. She is the author of Trust Accounting for South Carolina Lawyers: An Annotated Practice Manual, published by the SC Bar. She has also taught a variety of Paralegal Studies courses for the past twenty-five years.

C. Vance Stricklin, Jr., was elected to fill the unexpired term of the Honorable Dorothy Mobley Jones in February 2020 and sworn in on March 24, 2020. He is a former partner in the Moore Taylor Law Firm, P.A. and served two years as the managing partner. His practice focused primarily on family law, including domestic litigation. Prior to private practice, he was an Assistant Public Defender, primarily representing juveniles in Family Court. He has been practicing in the Family Courts for over 25 years.

• My practice is 100% devoted to domestic litigation and mediation. 
• Licenced South Carolina Family Court Mediator since 2017
• Owner of boutique Family Court law practice since 2014
• Available statewide for mediation

Jonathan W. Lounsberry joined KD Trial Lawyers in 2021 and is a member of the firm’s family law team. As a Fellow in the International Academy of Family Lawyers and the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, his has extensive experience in complex family court litigation and international family law issues, with a particular focus on international child abduction and cross-border custody issues pursuant to the 1980 Hague Convention. 

Jonathan received a B.A. in Philosophy and Political Science from the University of South Carolina (2006) and his J.D. from the Charleston School of Law (2009). He is admitted to practice in South Carolina, the District of South Carolina, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He has authored and co-authored articles regarding the practice of family law and the use of technology in litigation for the South Carolina Lawyer, the ABA Section of Family Law’s Family Advocate, the ABA Section of Litigation’s Family Law Litigation Newsletter, and the International Academy of Family Lawyers’ Online News.  Jonathan is also the Principal Editor of the South Carolina Children’s Law Resource Manual (2014) and Co-Author of Family Law Essentials: A Primer for Private Practice Before the Family Court in South Carolina (2018), both publications of the SC Bar CLE Division.

Kenneth Shabel is a 1995 graduate of Vanderbilt University with a B.A. in Communications Stuides and English.  He graduated cum laude from Mercer University's Walter F. George School of Law in 1998.  After 2.5 years with what is now South Carolina Legal Services, he was the lead attorney for Spartanburg County DSS.  He has been in private practice (and served as a Guardian ad Litem) since 2006.  He is the father of two and step-father of two.  Kenneth is also a licensed mediator and former attorney for the Volunteer Guardian ad Litem program. 

Margie A. Pizarro, Esq., is a native of Walterboro, South Carolina.  She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Clemson University in 1991 and a Master of Education in Divergent Learning from Columbia College in 2002.  Margie spent 12 years as an educator in the Greenville County School District before enrolling at the Charleston of Law where she received her Juris Doctorate as a member of the first graduating class in 2007.

In September 2008, Margie took a giant leap of faith and formed the Pizarro Law Firm, LLC, located in historic downtown Summerville.  Margie believes that by starting her own practice, she could be more effective in helping clients deal with a wide variety of legal issues as the Pizarro Law Firm is a general litigation firm focusing on matters including Family Law, Criminal Defense, Personal Injury, Estate Law, and Medical Malpractice.  Since opening its doors, Margie has represented clients in all state and federal courts, and she has helped them successfully navigate their legal issues.   Margie's practice has also taken her to California where she has supported the litigation in celebrity and high-asset family court cases.   Margie is truly realizing her passion for helping clients at all levels of litigation and also in ensuring and protecting their rights.

In October 2024, Margie was appointed as a Dorchester County Magistrate Court Judge.

Margie is a member of the American Bar Association, the Charleston County Bar Association, and the Dorchester County Bar Association.  She is licensed to practice in all South Carolina State and Federal Courts, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and before the Suprem e Court of the United States.  She has numerous board memberships and accolades including:  

Former Member, Board of Trustees, Columbia College (SC)

Former Member, Executive Committee, Charleston County Bar Association

Current Member, James L. Petigru Inn of Court

Former Member, Board of Directors, Dorchester County Habitat for Humanity

Former Member, Board of Directors, South Carolina Women Lawye rs Association (SCWLA)

Former Member, Board of Visitors, Columbia College (SC)

Former Planning Commissioner, Town of Summerville

Former Member, Board of Directors, Summerville Family YMCA

Former Member, Board of Directors, YESCarolina, youth entrepreneurship program

Former Member, Board of Director Children's Museum of the Lowcountry

Former Host, Lowcountry Spotlight, original local television show on WCLN-HD

Charleston Regional Business Journal, 40 Under 40 Winner 2007

Summerville Journal Scene, Women to Watch, Winner 2013

Recipient, Councilman Aaron Brown Award 2019

Margie is married to Laurentiis M. Gaines, S r.  Their blended family of two daughters, five sons, and one granddaughter keeps them quite busy.   

Judge Melissa J. Buckhannon is a Family Court Judge of South Carolina for the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit having been elected to the bench by the South Carolina General Assembly in February 2014.  

Judge Buckhannon received her Bachelor of Science degree from Francis Marion University in 1991. She received her Juris Doctor degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1994.  Upon graduation from the law school, she served as a law clerk to the Honorable James E. Lockemy.  Thereafter, she moved to Horry County to practice law.  She practiced in Horry County from 1995 until her election to the Family Court Bench.

Judge Buckhannon served on the Board of Trustees for Francis Marion University from 1998 until 2013.  She received the Francis Marion University Alumni Association Professional Industry Achievement Award in 2017 for Public Service and Law. She received an Honorary Doctorate Degree from Francis Marion University in December 2017.

Judge Buckhannon is a member of the Chief Justice’s Commission on the Profession, and serves on the Family Court Judges Advisory Committee. She is a founding member and President of the South Carolina Family Law American Inn of Court.  Judge Buckhannon serves as the Chair for the Family Court New Judge’s Training Team.  Judge Buckhannon also serves as a mentor to the Coastal Region’s Attorney General’s Sex Trafficking Task Force.

Judge Buckhannon is a member of the Horry County Bar Association as well as the South Carolina Bar Association.  She was a member of the South Carolina Bar Association’s Family Law Council from 2003 until her election to the bench, serving as Chair of the Council in 2010.  She has served as a member of the South Carolina Attorney Fee Dispute Board as well as the South Carolina Council for Conflict Resolution.  She served as a member of the Horry County Family Court Executive Committee and well as the Chair for the annual Horry County Family Court Seminar.