Education

• BA, King College, 1985 (cum laude)

• MA, Westminster Theological Seminary, 1989 (with honors)

• JD, University of Mississippi School of Law, 1998

Further graduate studies in religion and ethics at the Institute of Holy Land Studies, Jerusalem; Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton NJ; Potchefstroom University, Potchefstroom, South Africa.

Professional Associations and Memberships

• South Carolina State Bar

• American Bar Association

Bio

A native of Virginia, I have lived off and on in the Upstate of South Carolina since 1989, the year I graduated from Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, PA with a Master’s degree in theology. After seminary I worked at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary and as a youth pastor at a rural Presbyterian church near Asheville, NC. In 1991 I went to South Africa for further graduate studies at Potchefstroom University. While there I completed a thesis on Sabbath observance in the Presbyterian and Reformed tradition. At that time F. W. de Klerk was the chancellor of Potchefstroom in addition to being the State President of South Africa. I was there during De Klerk’s historic first referendum that ultimately led to the demise of apartheid in South Africa.

When I returned from South Africa I worked for over two years as a private tutor in New England and then enrolled in law school at the University of Mississippi, where I graduated with a Juris Doctor degree in 1998. While at Ole Miss I clerked for Judge Barry Ford in Tupelo, MS and published an article on compulsive gambling and the ADA in the national Gaming Law Review.  My first exposure to the actual practice of Family Law came during my third year in law school when I successfully prosecuted my own divorce case.

After law school I took a job as Managing Editor at one of the largest independent book publishers in the South located in Columbus, MS. Among the many books I have edited are the autobiography of Olympian Bob Beamon, Hunter Lundy’s book Let Us Prey on the fall of televangelist Jimmy Swaggart, and Louisa Dixon’s legal suspense novels, Next to Last Chance and Outside Chance. It was my distinct pleasure to work with Dar Tomlinson as the editor for her debut novel Broken, which had won the coveted Hemingway First Novel Award in 1994. I have also edited several children’s books including Liz Swados’s children’s novel Dreamtective (which is currently in pre-production as a major motion picture), Diana Nyad’s biography for children about NFL star Keyshawn Johnson, Boss of Me: The Keyshawn Johnson Story, and Libby Hughes’s biography for children about Tiger Woods, Tiger Woods: A Biography for Kids.

I moved back to the Upstate in 2000 and worked as a freelance editor and web publisher, and in hotel management. I have been licensed to practice law in the state of South Carolina since 2006.

I like to think my wide background and varied life experiences, including several years working with youth as a counselor and pastor, allow me to bring a unique perspective to the practice of Family Law.