Name Organization Speaking At
Alexander Cash
North Carolina native Alex B. Cash concentrates his practice on representing individual clients in the areas of family law and personal injury cases.
Cash Law Firm, LLC
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Ashby Jones
Ashby
Jones is a graduate of Presbyterian College and the University of South
Carolina School of Law. She is the owner
of Ashby Jones and Associates, LLC in Lexington. Ashby’s focus is domestic
litigation, though she has practiced extensively in Circuit Court and is
licensed to practice in the United States District Court and the United States
Supreme Court. Ashby is one of few South
Carolina domestic practitioners admitted as a Fellow in the American Academy of
Matrimonial Lawyers, generally recognized by judges and attorneys as preeminent
family law practitioners with a high level of knowledge, skill and
integrity. Ashby is Board Certified in
the area of Family Law by the National Board of Trial Advocates and in 2022 was
inducted into the charter chapter of the South Carolina Family Law Inn of Court
as a Master. She is the Family Law
Section chair of the South Carolina Association for Justice. Ashby holds an AV Preeminent peer-review
rating from Martindale-Hubbell. She has contributed to the SCAJ journal, The
Bulletin, and the national magazine Family Lawyer. She was appointed by the Chief Justice of the
South Carolina Supreme Court as a Lawyer-Neutral Member of the Commission on
Alternative Dispute Resolution in 2022 and sits on the Advisory Board for the
Lexington District One Center for Law and Global Policy Development. She speaks
regularly at continuing legal education seminars. Ashby has been named one of
the Legal Elite of the Midlands by Columbia Business Monthly and has been a
Super Lawyers Selectee, both on numerous occasions. She has been named as one
of the Best Lawyers in America on three occasions. She is a 2022 recipient of the University of
South Carolina Compleat Lawyer Award, which recognizes alumni for their
outstanding civic and professional accomplishments, significant contributions
to the legal profession, and those who exemplify the highest standards of
professional competence, ethics and integrity.
In April of 2023, Ashby will be named one of the Top 25 Lawyers in South
Carolina by Super Lawyers.
Ashby Jones and Associates LLC
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Catherine Stoddard
Catherine is a director in the Forensics & Valuation service line at Forvis Mazars. Starting her career in 1987, Catherine brings more than 35 years of public and corporate accounting experience. For more than 25 years, Catherine specialized in valuation and litigation services related to complex commercial litigation, domestic litigation, contract disputes, economic damages, shareholder disputes, fraud, mergers and acquisitions, and gift/estate planning and reporting.
Her public accounting experience included an international accounting firm, a top 20 accounting firm, and as a sole practitioner. She also spent several years in corporate accounting. In her litigation and valuation practice, she served individual clients as well as public and private companies in the healthcare, distribution, wholesale, transportation, real estate, technology, entertainment, manufacturing, retail, hospitality, service, nonprofit, agriculture, and construction industries.
Catherine is a member of the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), South Carolina Association of CPAs (SCACPA), National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts® (NACVA), and Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. She earned the Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV) credential from the AICPA and the Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA) credential from NACVA. She is also a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE). She has the Master Analyst in Financial Forensics (MAFF) credential from NACVA. She has been a regular speaker at events sponsored by the SCACPA as well as the North Carolina and South Carolina Bars. She has testified as an expert in family and state courts of North Carolina and South Carolina. She has been appointed a joint expert and has served as a mediator. She has also provided expert testimony in arbitration.
She formerly served as president of VisitGreenvilleSC and on the executive boards of Centre Stage Theater, Children’s Theatre, and Upstate Mediation Center. She is a former chair of SCACPA’s Business Valuation/Litigation Services committee. She is a graduate of Leadership South Carolina and Leadership Greenville. She is a member of the Downtown Greenville Rotary Club, Greenville Professional Women’s Forum, and Poinsett Club.
Catherine is a graduate of Furman University, Greenville, South Carolina, with a B.A. degree in accounting .
Forvis
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Dana Fields
The Law Office of Dana Fields, LLC
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Emma Dean
Emma graduated from Washington and Lee University in 2003 with a double major in Economics and Politics. During law school at the University of South Carolina School of Law, Emma clerked at Baker, Ravenel, and Bender, and upon graduating in 2006, she began working at the South Carolina Court of Appeals as a Staff Attorney. Later, Emma clerked for Justice Kittredge at the Court of Appeals and then at the Supreme Court of South Carolina.
Emma went into private practice at Nelson Mullins, specializing in Appellate Advocacy. In 2011, Emma became Assistant Chief Counsel to the House Judiciary Committee at the South Carolina House of Representatives. Subsequently in 2015, Emma became Chief Counsel where she remained until 2023 when she was named Executive Director of the South Carolina Bar.
Dean is a recipient of
the Silver Compleat Lawyer Award from the University of South Carolina School
of Law, has served on the Chief Justice’s Commission on the Profession since
2010 and is a member of the SC Supreme Court Historical Society Board.
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Gil Gatch
Gil Gatch Law
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Harvey Watson
Harvey M. Watson III
is a graduate of The Citadel and Emory University School of Law. He has worked
in private practice since his admission to the SC Bar in 2005. He began at a
small firm with a general practice, handling personal injury and domestic litigation,
then later real estate closings before joining the Law Offices of Desa Ballard.
He now calls on that varied background as a partner in the firm of Ballard
& Watson, where he handles appellate litigation of a varied nature, but
devotes the majority of his practice to representation of licensed
professionals before regulatory boards and agencies. As part of that focus, he
has the opportunity to represent many attorneys involved with pending
disciplinary investigations before the Office of Disciplinary Counsel. He also
assists attorneys and firms who hope to prevent such matters from arising (or
recurring) through consultation regarding law firm and trust account management
generally. Harvey enjoys assisting clients when broad, generalized rules of professional
conduct must be translated and applied to issues that arise in the real world
practice of law, such as handling difficult clients, interpreting vague and
confusing advertising limitations, or when associates suddenly depart.
Harvey serves on the SC Bar's Professional Responsibility Committee to
gain insight into the evolution of the Rules of Professional Conduct, and the
Ethics Advisory Committee to help contribute to their reasonable interpretation
and application.
Ballard & Watson, Attorneys at Law
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Huntley Crouch
Entered 12/7/18 by rsg (from CLE 18-50)
updated 9/6/19 by rsg (CLE 19-37)
Hon. Huntley S. Crouch
SC Family Court
Lexington, SC
Judge Crouch attended the College of Charleston, graduating cum laude in three years with a B.A. in English. After college, Judge Crouch worked for two years as a litigation paralegal while saving money to attend law school. She entered law school at the University of South Carolina in 1995. During law school, Judge Crouch was Associate Justice of Writing and Research for the USC School of Law Moot Court bar, and she competed as a member of the Craven Competition team. She worked as an assistant for Carolina Distinguished Professor of Law, David G. Owen, researching and editing Owen, Products Liability Law, West, 2005. She was a member of Phi Delta Phi legal honor society. After graduating from law school in 1998, Judge Crouch served as a law clerk for the late Honorable Wyatt T. Saunders, and she then transitioned into private practice where she ultimately focused exclusively on family law. She has worked extensively as a Guardian ad Litem, and she is also a certified Family Court mediator. Judge Crouch is a member of the South Carolina Bar where she served on the Children's Law Committee and the Guardian ad Litem task force. She was also a member of the Lexington County Bar where she served as the mediation chair on the executive committee. She has served as a member of the fee disputes board for the Eleventh Circuit. As a member of Lexington United Methodist Church, Judge Crouch has been a Sunday School teacher, children's church leader, and VBS missions leader. She was nationally recognized in People Magazine's Allstars Among Us for her work in creating the LUMC Snack Sacks program which provides healthy and child friendly snacks weekly to approximately 300 Lexington County school aged children in need. She has been very active in her children's schools and has served on various school improvement councils.
Huntley Smith Crouch was born in Florence, South Carolina to H. Edward Smith and Terrell S. Smith. Judge Crouch grew up in Barnwell, South Carolina where she and her two brothers often could be found exploring the countryside surrounding her parent's circa 1843 home, Cedar Hall. Her father is an attorney in the law firm of Brown, Jefferies and Boulware, and her mother, a retired county agent for Clemson Extension Service, currently serves as Executive Director for the Barnwell County Chamber of Commerce. Judge Crouch attended public schools, graduating with honors from Barnwell High School in 1990. While at Barnwell High, Judge Crouch was a proud Warhorse as an All-Conference athlete and a four-year letterman in both tennis and track.
Judge Crouch was elected to the Family Court on February 7, 2018.
S.C. Family Court
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Jack Wynkoop
Merrill Lynch
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James Shadd
Shadd Law Firm, LLC
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Jerry Vinson
Judge Jerry D. (Jay) Vinson, Jr. was born in Camden, South Carolina on October 12, 1960, the son of Jerry D. Vinson and Patricia Ann Mahan Vinson. Judge Vinson was raised in Florence, South Carolina where he attended public schools. He graduated from Francis Marion College, cum laude, with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology. He received his Juris Doctorate Degree in 1985 from the University of South Carolina School of Law and was admitted to practice law the same year.
Following law school, he served as a law clerk to the Honorable John H. Waller, Jr., Circuit Court Judge of the Twelfth Judicial Circuit. After completing his clerkship, he joined the firm of Turner, Padget, Graham and Laney, P.A. and later practiced law with his wife, Flo Lester Vinson, in The Vinson Law Firm, P.A. Judge Vinson merged his practice with the law firm of McDougall & Self, L.L.P, where he practiced until his election to the bench in 2004. He is admitted to practice before the United States District Court, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court.
Judge Vinson has been active with Francis Marion University, where he has been named both Outstanding Alumnus and Outstanding Biology Alumnus. He has served as FMU Alumni President and as a member of the Board of Directors of the Francis Marion University Foundation. He has also served on the Board of Directors for the Florence Symphony Orchestra, the Master Works Choir and the Florence Kiwanis Club. Judge Vinson was also active in the South Carolina Bar serving as a member of the House of Delegates and as a member, and former chair, of the Family Law Section Council. He is a member, and past chair, of the South Carolina Bar Law Related Education Committee. He has been a frequent speaker at Family Law CLE programs.
Judge Vinson served as a member, and former Chair, of the Family Court Bench Bar Committee and served as chair of the Best Legal Practices sub-committee. Judge Vinson served on the Governor's Task Force for Children in Foster Care and Adoption Services. Judge Vinson is also a member of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and served on the Council's Board of Trustees. He is past president of the South Carolina Conference of Family Court Judges and a former member of the Family Court Judges Advisory Committee.
Judge Vinson is married to Flo Lester Vinson, who serves as a Federal Administrative Law Judge.
EDUCATION
J.D., University of South Carolina, 1992
B.A., University of South Carolina, magna cum laude, 1988
BAR AND COURT ADMISSIONS
South Carolina, 1992
U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit, 1993
U.S. Supreme Court, 1996
S.C. Court of Appeals
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Joseph McDougall
McDougall, Self, Currence & McLeod, LLP
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Kirby Mitchell
Kirby Mitchell is the Legal
Director of the Medical Legal Partnership (MLP) in Greenville, South Carolina. He received a B.A. in Economics in 1990 from
Furman University, and a J.D. in 1996 from the School of Law at the University
of Georgia. Prior to helping start South
Carolina’s 1 st MLP in 2016, Kirby was senior litigation attorney at
South Carolina Legal Services (2012-17) and the Greenville office’s managing
attorney (2000 -12). Kirby is a member
of the South Carolina Bar and the State Bar of Georgia, and is admitted to
practice in the U.S. District Court and U.S. Tax Court.
As Legal Director of the MLP, Kirby
represents low-income clients in a wide variety of civil cases, including the
family, probate, circuit and magistrate courts, as well as in appellate courts
and administrative proceedings. The MLP
approach is popular across the U.S. and is an innovative “legal aid” office,
embedded directly within Prisma Health, and Kirby helped start the 1 st
MLP in South Carolina. He teaches a
popular “Poverty, Medicine, and the Law” class at Furman (2011-2019).
Kirby served as 2019 president of
the Greenville County Bar Association, and in September 2019 was re-elected to
a second two-year term on the Board of Directors for the National Legal Aid
& Defender Association (NLADA).
Kirby and his wife, Danielle, a private attorney at Mitchell Ramseur,
LLC, live in Greenville with their 2 kiddos.
S.C. Legal Services
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Lakesha Jeffries
Entered 3/21/13 by rsg
Lakesha W. Jeffries
Lakesha White Jeffries is a Partner with the Jeffries Law Firm, LLC. Ms. Jeffries is a native of Summerville, South Carolina. She is a graduate of Columbia College Honors Program (B.A. English, 2000) and the University of South Carolina School of Law (J.D., 2003). Ms. Jeffries is an experienced litigator and regularly appears before Family Court Judges Statewide.
Ms. Jeffries is a Board Member with the Orangeburg County Chamber of Commerce where she currently serves as Immediate Past Chairman. She is active in the Orangeburg County Bar Association, S.C. Bar Association, and a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Ms. Jeffries is an experienced speaker and has presented seminars on developments in the area of workers' compensation.
Ms. Jeffries has experience handling workers' compensation claims, divorce, custody and probate matters. Ms. Jeffries serves as a Deputy County Attorney with the Orangeburg County Community Development Division. In this capacity, Ms. Jeffries provides legal counsel to the Planning/Land Use Department and Zoning Department.
Ms. Jeffries is married to Bryan Jeffries. The Jeffries Law Firm is a proud sponsor of the City of Orangeburg Department of Recreations.
Jeffries Law Firm, LLC
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Mary Quindlen
Mary Fran Quindlen holds two bachelor's degrees in History and English from Rutgers University. She received her law degree from the University of South Carolina in 1998, where she was a member of Women in Law and the Phi Alpha Delta Fraternity. Following her admission to the South Carolina Bar, Mary Fran practiced as a Marine Corps Judge Advocate serving as a Legal Assistance Attorney and Defense Counsel. She continued to serve in the United States Marine Corps Reserve until May of 2006 when she resigned her commission as a Major. After her release from active duty in 2002, Mary Fran became an Associate at Harvey & Battey, P.A. in Beaufort, South Carolina. She worked as their family law practitioner until 2005 when she opened her own practice in Beaufort. Mary Fran's practice is concentrated in the areas of Military and Family Law, to include custody, visitation and divorce. Mary Fran is a Fellow in the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, the International Academy of Family Lawyers, is a Member of the South Carolina Family Law Council, and serves on the South Carolina Bar's Fee Dispute Resolution Board. Mary Fran has been qualified as an expert in South Carolina Family Courts regarding military matters related to divorce and she teaches military family law CLE's around the country
Quindlen Law Firm, P.A.
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Megan Dell
Megan Dell is a South Carolina native, and a graduate of the College of Charleston and the Charleston School of Law. In 2011, she began her solo practice in Conway, South Carolina, and then returned to Charleston in 2013.
While in law school, Megan served as a volunteer guardian ad litem. She also clerked for the Charleston County Family Court and a local family law firm, and volunteered for the Federal Public Defender. She was the founding Editor-in-Chief of Resolved: Journal of Alternative Dispute Resolution, an Editor for the Federal Courts Law Review, and Chair of the Honor Council.
Megan practices exclusively in the Family Courts of South Carolina. She is a certified guardian ad litem for private custody and adoption cases, and these cases make up approximately one-third of her practice.
Megan is regularly invited to speak at continuing legal education seminars on family law topics. She is a member in the Charleston County Bar Association, the South Carolina Bar Association, and the South Carolina Women Lawyers Association. In August 2011, Megan was elected to serve on the Charleston School of Law Alumni Association Board of Directors, and she has recently been elected to her second term as the Board's Secretary.
Dell Family Law, P.C.
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Melissa Buckhannon
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.
S.C. Family Court
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Michael Gillen
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Nicholas Lewis
Barth, Ballenger & Lewis, LLP
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Reid Sherard
Reid Sherard leads Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd’s Family Law practice group. He concentrates his time in complex divorce-related litigation, particularly involving significant assets, income, valuation, or other challenging financial issues as well as contested custody matters, interstate and international jurisdiction disputes, and premarital and postnuptial agreements. He enjoys helping individuals find solutions to difficult personal problems, whether through negotiated settlement or in trial. Reid is sensitive to the private nature of the matters he handles and recognizes the importance of each case.
Reid is based in Greenville, his hometown, but practices across
the state. He is frequently requested to speak on family law issues at
statewide seminars.
Reid is listed in The Best Lawyers in America® and South Carolina
Super Lawyers (top 25 in the state for 2017, 2018, and 2020, and 2021,
regardless of practice area), and enjoys the AV Preeminent® Rating by
Martindale-Hubbell. Reid’s peers have
recognized him as the top attorney vote getter for Greenville Business Magazine
Legal Elite for six consecutive years.
Reid is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, and is
a certified family court mediator. Reid
received both the Distinguished Honors Alumni Award from the USC Honors College
and the USC School of Law’s Compleat Lawyer Award (Silver).
Reid also maintains a litigation and appellate practice. He has tried cases in the family court, federal district and magistrate court, and various state and local courts. He has argued ten appeals, including in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, the South Carolina Supreme Court, and the South Carolina Court of Appeals.
Before joining Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, Reid practiced for 15
years at an AmLaw 100 firm. He is a
graduate of the nationally recognized Family Law Trial Institute in Houston,
Texas. Reid commenced his career as a law clerk to the late Hon. G. Ross
Anderson, Jr., U.S. District Judge for the District of South Carolina.
Reid currently serves as President-Elect of the Greenville County
Bar Association, as the Chair of the 2022 American Heart Association Upstate
Heart Walk, and Member of both the SC Bar Family Law Section Council and House
of Delegates. He previously served as
President of the Board of Directors of A Child’s Haven.
Education:
University of South Carolina School of Law, JD (2004)
University of Aberdeen, Scotland, MLitt, with distinction (2001)
University of South Carolina, Honors College, BA, magna cum laude
(2000)
Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, PA
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Stanley Pack
Michael Pack is a partner with the law firm Dennis, Shaw, Drennan & Pack, LLC in Spartanburg. He practices in the areas of estate planning, probate, tax, business and litigation (involving probate or business matters). Mr. Pack is a member of the South Carolina Bar (Tax Law and Probate, Estate Planning and Trusts sections of the Bar), a Council member of the Probate, Estate Planning and Trusts Section of the South Carolina Bar, a Council member of the Tax Section of the South Carolina Bar, and a past President of the Spartanburg Estate Planning Council. He earned a B.S. in Business Administration from Presbyterian College, his J.D. degree from Cumberland School of Law at Samford University, and a Masters in Tax Law (LL.M) from Georgetown University Law Center. Mr. Pack is a Certified Specialist in Tax Law in South Carolina.
Dennis, Shaw, Drennan & Pack, LLC
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Taylor Long
Taylor was born and raised in Greenwood, South Carolina. She graduated from the University of South Carolina, in 2006, with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, with a dual focus on Marketing and Management.
She moved to Charleston, South Carolina, where she attended the Charleston School of Law. While in law school, Taylor was an active member of the Phi Delta Phi legal fraternity, the Real Estate Society, Children's Rights and Family Law Society, and Women in Law Society. Taylor was honored by receiving the CALI Excellence for the Future award in the study of Criminal Trial Practice. After graduating from law school in 2009, Taylor worked as an associate for the Law Office of Paul E. Tinkler. Taylor opened her own practice in March of 2015 focusing on Family Law, Military Divorce, Estate Planning, and QDROs.
Taylor is a member of the South Carolina Bar and Charleston County Bar and is licensed to practice in the Federal District Court of South Carolina and the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. She is a member of the National Trial Lawyers Association and was awarded the "Top 40 Under 40," in 2012. Taylor is also a member of the South Carolina Association for Justice, National Women Trial Lawyers, American Bar Association, and Charleston Cooperative Family Law Association.
Since being admitted to the South Carolina Bar in 2010, Taylor has practiced almost exclusively in the Family Courts of South Carolina. She established QDRO Professionals, LLC in 2013, which offers an all-inclusive service assisting attorneys and clients with the intricacies of Qualified Domestic Relations Orders. In addition to her active litigation practice, Taylor is also a certified Family Court Mediator and acts as a Guardian ad Litem in private custody matters.
Taylor resides in James Island with her husband, Kyle, her daughter, Henley, and her two dogs. In her free time, she enjoys serving as a chair member for the Cinderella Project of Charleston and spending time with her family on the beach or the boat.
Law Office of Taylor E. Long
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Vicki Snelgrove
Judge Vicki Johnson Snelgrove assumed her duties as Family Court Judge for the Second Judicial Circuit in July of 2010. She is a native South Carolinian who was born in Aiken to B. Henderson Johnson, Jr., and Doris Johnson. She grew up in Aiken, graduated from Aiken High School and received her Bachelors degree in Humanities (English) from the University of South Carolina in 1979. She received her Juris Doctorate from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1982. While at the USC School of Law, she participated on the Moot Court Team and received an award at the national level.
Upon graduation from law school, Judge Snelgrove entered private practice in Aiken with her father (B. Henderson Johnson, Jr.), her brother Barry, Ronald A. Maxwell and James E. Whittle, Jr. She remained with that firm until her election to this seat in 2010.
During her 27 years of private practice, she was very active with the South Carolina Bar serving on Family Law Section Council and as its Chair 2007 - 2008, has sat as a member of the South Carolina Bar House of Delegates, served on the South Carolina Bar Board of Governors, served as a member of the Family Law Task Force for the South Carolina Bar and has spoken at numerous CLE's.
Judge Snelgrove was a member of the South Carolina Association of Justice, Family Law Section Council and served as its Chair in the late 1990's. She was included in The Best Lawyers in America for 2006 - 2010. She assisted in writing the Family Law Tool Kit (2003 and 2010 editions). While serving on the Family Law Section Council, Judge Snelgrove assisted in developing the current Financial Declaration.
As a member of St. Paul Lutheran Church, she served as Vice-Chair of the congregation, participated in a mission trip to Haiti and currently serves on the Social Concerns Committee.
Judge Snelgrove is married to Von Pope Snelgrove of Lexington County. They have two daughters; Beverly and Leigh.
S.C. Family Court
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