Event Information

Almand James Barron received her Juris Doctor degree from the University of South Carolina and was admitted to the South Carolina Bar in 1998. Ms. Barron is also a member of the Richland County Bar Association, Lexington County Bar Association and the South Carolina Women's Law Association. She is a Fellow in the South Carolina Chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and is Board Certified in Family Law by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. She has served on the Children's Committee, Professional Responsibility, Ethics Advisory, Judicial Qualifications and the Conventions Committee for the South Carolina Bar.

Judge Taylor graduated from Sumter High School as an honor graduate in 1976. After graduating from high school, Judge Taylor attended the University of South Carolina where she majored in Government and International Studies. Upon completion of her undergraduate degree, Judge Taylor attended the University of South Carolina School of Law where she received her Juris Doctorate in 1983.

Judge Taylor was first employed as a Reginald Heber Smith Community Law Fellow at Three Rivers Legal Services in Lake City, Florida. She remained in Lake City for one year. She was then employed at the Neighborhood Legal Assistance Program in Conway, South Carolina from 1984 until 1985. In 1985, Judge Taylor was employed as the first full time Family Court Assistant Solicitor for the Third Judicial Circuit.  In that capacity, she prosecuted juvenile cases in Sumter, Lee and Clarendon Counties. She was also responsible for the prosecution of child abuse and neglect cases for the Department of Social Services in those counties as well. Judge Taylor continued to serve as a full time Assistant Solicitor responsible for the juvenile prosecutions until 1987 when she changed her status to a part time juvenile prosecutor. She has continued to serve as a juvenile prosecutor from 1987 until present. Judge Taylor also served as the attorney for the Department of Social Services; first as a full time Assistant Solicitor and then as a contract attorney for the Department of Social Services until 2005. She worked as an associate in the Law Office of Larry C. Weston from 1987 until 1997. In 1997, she opened her own practice where she is a solo practitioner. In her practice, she handled primarily family law cases. Judge Taylor has been the recipient of several awards to include the Tribute to Women in Industry in 1987; the Compleat Lawyer Award in 1997; The American Society on the Abuse of Children, Legal Award in 2001 and The James T. McCain Humanitarian Award in 2001.

Judge Taylor has served on several committees in her community to include the Sumter County Alliance of Law Enforcement, Sumter County Chamber of Commerce, Young Lawyer's Domestic Violence Committee, Board of Directors of the American Red Cross, Board of Directors of the United Way, the South Carolina Bar Foundation and the Mid-Carolina Commission on Higher Education. Judge Taylor is a member of Mt. Pisgah African Methodist Episcopal Church. She sings on the Gospel Choir, serves as a Steward.

In her free time, Judge Taylor enjoys reading, movies and gardening. She aspires to become a Master Gardener upon her retirement.

Brooke Chapman Evans graduated in 2000 from the College of Charleston with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science, with a minor in Philosophy. She then obtained her JD from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 2003. Brooke is a founding member of Evans & Turnblad, LLC in Florence, where she focuses primarily on domestic litigation and serves as a Guardian ad Litem.

After law school, Brooke served as Circuit Court law clerk to the Honorable John C. Few, now Justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court. Upon completing her clerkship, Brooke entered private practice in Greenville and remained there until returning home to Florence in 2011. Brooke serves on the Executive Committee of the Florence County Bar Association, is a member of the South Carolina Association of Justice, and is a Barrister in the Pee Dee Inn of Court Chapter of the American Inns of Court. Additionally, Brooke serves on the Board of Directors for The School Foundation.

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.

M. J. Goodwin has practiced law in Anderson County, South Carolina for 28 years. Ms. Goodwin began her career as an Assistant Solicitor. She opened her own firm in 1994 and began doing Guardian ad Litem work in Family Court. Over the past 25 years, Ms. Goodwin has served as Guardian ad Litem in over 1500 Family Court matters. In addition to Guardian ad Litem work, Ms. Goodwin also represents litigants in a variety of Family Court situations in Anderson and Abbeville Counties. When not practicing law, Ms. Goodwin enjoys spending time with her husband of 28 years, Chris, and her son, Thomas, who is a college student. The Goodwin Family breeds and raises the critically endangered Carolina Marsh Tacky Horse, which is the official South Carolina State Heritage Horse. The Goodwin Family is the largest breeding operation of the Carolina Marsh Tacky Horse in Upstate South Carolina, having produced 18 registered foals since 2011. Ms. Goodwin also enjoys art, literature and yoga.

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.