Speaker Biographies

Our Distinguished Speakers for Super CLE 2020

The CLEs will be held at the Hilton Head Country Club, Hilton Head Plantation, 70 Skull Creek Drive, Hilton Head Island, SC. Please allow a few extra minutes for the security gate pass. Please tell security you are going to the country club for the Hilton Head Bar meeting.

The Honorable George C. James, Jr.

Justice James was born in 1960 in Savannah, Ga. and grew up in Sumter. He is the son of the late Ren F. James and the late George C. James. He is married to the former Dena Owen. They have a daughter, Alston, and a son, George. Alston is a speech pathologist in Rock Hill, and George is an attorney in Columbia.
Justice James graduated from Wilson Hall in Sumter and graduated cum laude from The Citadel in 1982, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. He earned his Juris Doctor degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1985.
In 1985, Justice James joined the firm of Richardson, James & Player. He practiced with his father, the late George C. James, and with the late Henry B. Richardson, Jr., Thomas E. Player, Jr., and his brother, John E. James, III. In 2000, the firm merged with the firm of Lee, Erter, Wilson, Holler & Smith and became known as Lee, Erter, Wilson, James, Holler & Smith, LLC. Justice James was a partner in that firm until his election to the circuit court bench in 2006.
Justice James was sworn in as a resident circuit judge for the Third Judicial Circuit on July 1, 2006, replacing the retiring Howard P. King. He served as a Business Court Judge and was the 2009 recipient of the Matthew J. Perry Civility Award from the Richland County Bar Association. Justice James was elected to the Supreme Court on February 1, 2017 and was sworn in on February 7, 2017.
Justice James and his wife are members of Trinity United Methodist Church in Sumter; he has served as chairman of the Staff-Parish Relations Committee and as lay leader. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of Wilson Hall School and is chairman of the Athletic Committee of South Carolina Independent Schools Association. He has served in the past as a board member of the Sumter Unit of the American Cancer Society, Sumter Habitat for Humanity, and the Santee-Lynches Regional Council of Governments. He is a past member of the Sumter Sertoma Club. He has also been a Dixie Youth baseball coach and a YMCA youth basketball coach.
In addition to his membership in the South Carolina Bar and the Sumter County Bar Association, Judge James is a member of the Judicial Division of the American Bar Association. He is a former member of the South Carolina Defense Trial Attorneys Association, and the Defense Research Institute.

Hon. Heather R. Galvin, Esquire, Probate Court, Beaufort County. 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 School of Law and is admitted to the practice of law in Ohio, South Carolina, and Washington D.C. Prior to moving to South Carolina; Ms. Galvin worked for LexisNexis as an Applications Consultant and Senior Legal Research Associate. Upon relocating to South Carolina, she served as an Assistant Solicitor for the 14th Judicial Circuit. In 2007, Ms. Galvin opened the Law Offices of Heather Galvin and specialized in 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. In her spare time she enjoys jogging, reading, tennis and spending time with her husband and their cats.

The Honorable James E. Lockemy
Court of Appeals

Chief Judge James E. Lockemy was born in Dillon, SC where he presently resides. After graduating from Dillon High School, he attended The Citadel leaving in his second year after deciding to get married. Briefly, he attended Coastal Carolina and then returned to Dillon and worked as a bagboy at a local supermarket and delivered morning newspapers while achieving his bachelor's degree in history from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. He then attended law school at the University of South Carolina. After graduating from law school and passing the Bar, Chief Judge Lockemy entered the United States Army acquiring the rank of Captain while assigned to the 18th Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
After completing his three year tour of duty, he joined the South Carolina Army National Guard and also accepted a position as Legislative Assistant to U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond. While in Washington, D.C., he served as a legal counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Senator Strom Thurmond presented him for admission to the United States Supreme Court. During his 43 years of military service, Chief Judge Lockemy was the recipient of seventeen awards, including The Legion of Merit. He was activated from the National Guard and served a tour of duty in war-torn Kosovo. He retired from active service as a full Colonel. He then entered the South Military Department where he retired as a Major General.
In 1982, he was elected to the House of Representatives where he served for seven years. In 1980, Judge Lockemy began coaching youth baseball and founded the Rangers, a team he coached for 35 years. He has led the Dillon All-Star baseball team to the state tournament on two occasions, finishing as first runner up in 1996. In 1989, he was chosen as Dillon County Citizen of the Year and the Dillon County Veteran of the Year in 1999. Active in Community Theater, Chief Judge Lockemy received the Irving Award for Best Actor by the Florence Little Theatre for his role as John Quincy Adams in The Amistad Case. Other roles include Colonel Jessup in A Few Good Men, Oscar in The Odd Couple and various characters in many British comedies.
He was elected as a Circuit Judge in 1989 where he served for eighteen years. Chief Judge Lockemy was then elected as a Judge for the South Carolina Court of Appeals and elected Chief Judge in 2016 where he continues to serve. In the South Carolina Judiciary, he served as President of the Circuit Judges’ Association.
In 1995, he was chosen as a delegate from his state for the National Conference of State Trial Judges of the Judicial Division of the ABA. He later was elected to serve on the Conference’s Executive Board. Upon his election to the Court of Appeals, Chief Judge Lockemy moved to the Appellate Judges’ Conference. He was elected Chair of that Conference in 2018. He now serves as Chair of the Appellate Judges’ Education Institute (AJEI).
He is an active Kiwanian having served as the local president and lieutenant governor. Chief Judge Lockemy is completing his third year as an Adjunct Professor in Legal History at the University of South Carolina Law School. In 2012, Judge Lockemy received his Master's Degree in History from The Citadel and currently is working to complete his PH. D. in History from the University of South Carolina. Judge Lockemy has two sons, Jamie and Will, and eleven grandchildren.

Stephen Spitz, Esquire

Stephen Spitz has taught property,
real estate transactions, environmental law and equity, for a long time at two different law schools in this State, USC Law School and CSOL.

Currently, he is of counsel to a law firm with a number of offices in the Northeast, including Pa., NY, Del, N.J. The firm has about 200 lawyers and is named Stevens & Lee. In S.C., Stevens & Lee has a single office, in Charleston, and at the moment we have two lawyers in that office, Mr. Spitz and Ryan Neville.

As for special distinctions – he is not real sure that there are any, but upon information and belief, they say that he is a co-author of a Bar Publication called Real Estate Transactions: Cases and Materials (2d ed. S.C.Bar) (He claims that it the very worst book on this subject (as to his knowledge) no one else has ever elected to write a book on this highly entertaining topic. It is further said, again merely upon information and belief, that he is a so-called “Admiral in the Great Navy of the State of Nebraska” (a truly landlocked state) and this permits him to be in charge of various goldfish and tadpoles in that state, as the Governor of that State may so direct.

Barbara Seymour, Esquire

Barbara M. Seymour represents lawyers, law firms, judges, and law students in matters related to ethics, professional discipline, and Bar admissions at the law firm of Clawson and Staubes, LLC in Columbia, SC. 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 at Harris & Graves 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 Georgia State Bar, the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers, the South Carolina Association of Ethics Counsel, and the South Carolina Women Lawyers Association. She currently serves on the Law Related Education, Professional Responsibility, Unauthorized Practice of Law, Future of the Profession, 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. Barbara has served as an adjunct instructor in the Professional Legal Assistants Program at Converse College and the Paralegal Degree Program at Midlands Technical College. Her courses have included Civil Litigation, Legal Research & Writing, Business Law, Torts, Legal Ethics, and Law Office Management. www.linkedin.com/in/barbaraseymour

J. Steven Mixon, Esquire

J. Stephen (“Steve”) Mixon of the Mixon Law Firm is one of Georgia’s preeminent Plaintiff employment lawyers. Mr. Mixon represents employees who are in conflict with their employer for discrimination/harassment issues (Title VII), FMLA or FLSA disputes. Mr. Mixon graduated from Emory University in 1989, and from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1992. Upon graduation, Mr. Mixon began his legal career as a Staff Attorney in the U.S. Senate for Senator Strom Thurmond. When he returned to Atlanta, he was selected by Judge Deborah Benefield to be her law clerk before the Clayton County Superior Court. Prior to starting his own firm Mr. Mixon was in house counsel with RaceTrac Petroleum.

Lauren Zeldin, Esquire

Lauren Zeldin is a shareholder with Ogletree, Nash, Smoak, Deakins & Stewart practices primarily in the areas of employment discrimination and wage and hour litigation, including the representation of employers in connection with race, sex, age, national origin, religion, leaves of absence, and disability discrimination claims in federal and state courts and before various administrative agencies. Ms. Zeldin has experience representing employers in connection with Rule 23 class actions, FLSA collective actions, and EEOC pattern and practice litigation and systemic charges. Ms. Zeldin also represents employers and business in connection with public accommodations claims under various civil rights statutes, including claims for race discrimination under Section 1981 and 42 U.S.C. §2000a, and with a particular focus on disability access claims arising under Title III of the ADA, including building accessibility and the use of service dogs.
In addition to her litigation practice, Ms. Zeldin regularly provides clients with day-to-day counseling and advice on a variety of employment issues, including creating and implementing effective workplace policies and practices, designing and conducting internal wage and hour and pay equity audits, advising employers on correctly classifying employees under the FLSA, and advising employers on requests for leaves of absence and disability accommodations. Ms. Zeldin also has experience advising employers on issues pertaining to employment-related tests and other employee selection devices.

The Honorable Stephanie P. McDonald, Court of Appeals

Stephanie Myrick Pendarvis McDonald was born in Columbia. She grew up in Charleston and attended the Honors College at the University of South Carolina, where she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and President of Alpha Delta Pi Sorority and Carolina Cares. In 1991, she graduated magna cum laude, receiving the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award for leadership, scholarship, and service. She received her juris doctor from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1994.
While attending law school, Stephanie worked as a law clerk for the South Carolina Senate Judiciary Committee. She received American Jurisprudence Awards for Evidence and Moot Court, was a member of the Order of the Barristers, Captain of the Craven Moot Court Team, and Vice-President of the Law School Pro Bono Board.
After graduation, Stephanie returned home to Charleston, working in the civil litigation practice of Stuckey and Senn. Prior to her election to the bench, she worked for fourteen years with the law firm of Senn, McDonald & Leinbach, LLC, where her practice focused on civil litigation and a variety of appellate matters in state and federal courts. On February 2, 2011, she was elected by the General Assembly to the Circuit Court, At-Large Judge, Seat 9, to fill the unexpired term of the Honorable J. Michelle Childs. On May 28, 2014, she was elected by the General Assembly to the Court of Appeals, Seat 7, to fill the seat vacated upon the retirement of the Honorable Daniel F. Pieper.
Stephanie has been active with the Bar and in her community, serving as an attorney member of the South Carolina Commission on Judicial Conduct and an Attorney to Assist Disciplinary Counsel. She is a former President of the Junior League of Charleston, St. Philip’s Church Episcopal Church Women, and Charleston Lawyers Club. She has also served as a member of the City of Charleston’s Mayor’s Commission for Children, Youth and Families, and a number of other local boards and commissions.
Stephanie’s proudest achievement is her daughter, Susanne, who enjoys singing, theatre, and playing the guitar. In her very first role, Susanne played “Scout” in the Charleston Stage production of “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

The Honorable D. Garrison Hill, Court of Appeals

Judge D. Garrison "Gary" Hill was born in Greenville, South Carolina in 1964. His late father, Leo H. Hill, was former president of the South Carolina Bar; his mother Dr. Grace L. Hill, a retired educator and school psychologist. He has a sister, Lillian H. Pinto, and a brother, L. Howard Hill, Jr.
Judge Hill received a B.A. degree magna cum laude from Wofford College in 1986, and his juris doctor from USC Law School in 1989, where he was a member of the South Carolina Law Review.
After graduation from law school, he served as law clerk to Judge Billy Wilkins of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. From 1990 to 2000, he was a member of Hill, Wyatt & Bannister, a general civil and criminal practice law firm in Greenville. In 2000, he and his father started Hill & Hill, LLC, which was listed in the Martindale-Hubbell Bar Register of Pre-Eminent Lawyers. The firm primarily handled business litigation, government law, and public utility law including the representation of numerous special purpose districts throughout the state.
From 2004 to 2017, he served as a resident Circuit Judge for the Thirteenth Circuit. On February 1, 2017, he was elected to the Court of Appeals.
Judge Hill served in the House of Delegates of the South Carolina Bar and as president of the Government Law Section. He is also the former editor-in-chief of the South Carolina Lawyer and the author of several legal articles. He and his father published Doing the Public's Business, a legal guide designed to assist lay members who serve on the boards of public bodies.
While in private practice, he served on the boards of the Greenville Literacy Association, Greenville Mental Health Association, YMCA Camp Greenville, and as chairman of the City of Greenville Board of Zoning Appeals.
Judge Hill has three children and is a member of Westminster Presbyterian Church.

The Honorable Jenny Abbott Kitchings, Clerk of Court, Court of Appeals

Jenny Abbott Kitchings received a Bachelor of Arts from Converse College with a major in Modern Languages, including Spanish, Italian, and French. She graduated from the University of South Carolina School of Law with a Juris Doctor and from the top-ranked Moore School of Business with an International Masters of Business Administration.

Upon graduation, Mrs. Kitchings came to work in the judicial system as a trial court law clerk. When her judge was elected to the Court of Appeals, she veered into private practice before returning to the court as an appellate law clerk. She was appointed as Clerk of Court on January 25, 2012. Since then, Mrs. Kitchings has worked to implement a new web-based case management system, served in various leadership roles with the National Conference of Appellate Court Clerks, and partnered with IT guru John Reynolds to encourage appellate judges to adopt iPads. She is also a mother, wife, and Clemson Tiger fan.

Alexia Pittas is a former partner of Stuckey Law Offices in Charleston, South Carolina where she focused on domestic litigation, government defense, and civil trial work. She graduated from the University of Virginia in 1992 and earned her law degree from the University of South Carolina in 1996. She was an active trial attorney and GAL until her move to Georgia in 2005.

She has previously served on the Boards of the South Carolina Women Lawyers, Crime Stoppers, Inc., and the 100 Club of South Carolina, Inc. She currently serves on the Board of the Savannah Widows’ Society and teaches Sunday School at St. Paul’s Greek Orthodox Church.

For the past eleven years, Alexia has been the owner and operator of Lawyer Rescue, providing legal research, writing, and litigation strategy services to trial lawyers throughout the southeastern United States.

She returned to Charleston and active practice this January where she will continue to provide strategy consulting to trial lawyers and focus her practice on family law matters and appeals.

Thank you to all of our distinguished faculty for their time and efforts to educate our members.

CLEs are free to all members of the Hilton Head Bar Association. To join the Hilton Head Bar, please mail $100.00 to the attention of treasurer Tyler Melnick at Finger, Melnick & Brooks, 35 Hospital Center Commons, Suite 200, Hilton Head Island, SC 29926.

To reserve your spot in our CLES, or if you are interested in speaking to our membership, please contact Margaret S. Day, Vice President, at Law Office of Margaret S. Day, LLC, P.O. Box 763, Bluffton, SC 29910 or (843) 836-3714.