Event Information

Annie Rumler earned her Bachelor’s Degree in religion from Wofford College. She attended graduate school at the University of South Carolina where she participated in a dual degree program earning both her Juris Doctorate as well as a Master’s Degree in Social Work. She is currently a Deputy General Counsel for the South Carolina Department of Corrections and is a member of the SC Bar’s Diversity Committee.

For the past nine years, Carlie Woods has been an Administrator with the County of Lexington Magistrate Court.  Carlie is currently the Senior Assistant Court Administrator and manages all of the operational, administrative and financial duties for the Domestic Violence, Fraudulent Check, DUI and Preliminary Hearing Courts.  She also oversees the operations of the Central Court Jury Trials.  Carlie was a team member of former Governor Nikki Haley’s Domestic Violence Task Force.

Carlie grew up in Pennsylvania, and furthered her education at West Virginia University where she received a Bachelor’s Degree in Foreign Languages.  She then attended Remington College where she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Organized Management.  Carlie moved to Lexington, South Carolina in 2008 where she worked for the Department of Juvenile Justice before finding her career at Lexington County.  Carlie enjoys spending her free time with her husband and her two children.

In 2000, Judge Clifton Newman was elected to the South Carolina Circuit Court by the South Carolina General Assembly and he has served continuously since. He has served as the Presiding Judge over the Multi-Week Trial Docket for South Carolina, a specialized docket of complex construction and other multi-week cases. He is a Business Court Judge. He has been appointed by the South Carolina Supreme Court to serve as Presiding Judge and as Special Referee in several complex civil and criminal cases.

Judge Newman is a member of the Chief Justice’s Commission on the Profession, the South Carolina Commission on Judicial Conduct and the South Carolina Circuit Court Advisory Committee. He is a past President of the American College of Business Court Judges and he has served as Co-Chair of the Judges Initiative Committee of the Business Law Section of the American Bar Association.

Judge Newman is Chairperson of the South Carolina Civil Rules Committee, a member of the South Carolina Judicial Council, and the John Belton O’Neal Inn of Court where he is a member of the mentoring team.

He recently became an Adjunct Professor at the USC School of Law where he teaches Trial Advocacy.

Deyaska is a native of Columbia, SC and graduate of Dreher High School.  She began her undergraduate studies at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia and finished her undergraduate degree at the University of South Carolina-Columbia where she majored in Political Science with an emphasis in Public Policy.  After college, Deyaska attended North Carolina Central University School of Law (“NCCU School of Law”) where she graduated with a Certificate in Dispute Resolution.

While a student at NCCU School of Law, Deyaska served as a Director on the Board of the National Black Law Students Association, a body of law students from across the country.

In 2015, Deyaska was appointed to serve as the North Carolina State Bar Young Lawyer Delegate to the American Bar Association House of Delegates.  She was the only African American in the North Carolina delegation.  Her appointment came shortly after receiving the Charles F. Blanchard Young Lawyer of the Year award in 2015, an award presented by the North Carolina Bar Association to one young lawyer each year. 

Deyaska currently works as a personal injury attorney and is licensed to practice law in South Carolina and North Carolina.  Her law firm is located in the Forest Acres community. 

She currently serves as Co-Chair on the SC Bar Diversity Committee’s Pipeline Subcommittee, and she also serves as Vice-Chair of the Richland County Democratic Party. 

A life-long Greenwood native, Judge Frank R. Addy, Jr. was born in Greenwood, South Carolina in 1967 to the late F. Robert Addy, Sr., and Mary Katherine Addy, a retired English teacher. Judge Addy is married and they have two children.

Judge Addy attended the public schools of Greenwood County, and upon graduating from high school, he enrolled in the Honors College at the University of South Carolina. While in college, he was nominated for Phi Beta Kappa. He graduated from USC cum laude in 1990 with a degree in International Studies and a minor in business. While attending USC law school, he served as Articles Editor for the Student Editorial Board of the Real Property, Probate and Trust Journal, was president of the International Law Society, served on the International Moot Court Team, and was a member of the Palmetto Law Society. Judge Addy graduated from law school in 1993 and was admitted to the SC Bar on November 15, 1993.

Judge Addy began his legal career as Assistant Solicitor for the Eighth Circuit and was promoted to Deputy Solicitor in 1995. Upon the passing of his father in early 1997, Judge Addy entered the private practice of law while also assisting his grandparents in the family business. From 1998 to 1999, he served as Chief Public Defender for Greenwood and Abbeville Counties. He was appointed Greenwood County Probate Judge on June 3, 1999 and was subsequently reelected without opposition. From 2006 to 2007 he served periodically as Special Circuit Judge during the convalescence of the late Judge Wyatt Saunders. In 2008, Judge Addy assisted in establishing the Eighth Circuit Drug Court.

Judge Addy has been active in many civic, community, and professional organizations, including serving as a youth mentor for Greenwood District 50, coaching the Greenwood High and Ware Shoals High mock trial teams, and den leader for Cub Scout Pack 222.  From 2005 to 2006 he served as President of the South Carolina Association of Probate Judges, chaired several committees of that organization, and chaired the Probate Judge’s Advisory Committee to the Chief Justice from 2001 to 2003. Judge Addy received the Executive of the Year award from the Emerald Chapter of IAAP in 2003. He currently serves as treasurer for the South Carolina Circuit Judges Association, he is the Judicial Branch liaison to the Department of Mental Health, and in 2021 he was appointed as the Circuit Court representative to the Access to Justice Commission.

Judge and Mrs. Addy are active members of St. Mark United Methodist Church.   He is a member of Greenwood Masonic Lodge #91, Greenwood Cotillion, and the Rotary Club of Greenwood.   In their spare time, the Addys enjoy travel and anything to do with boats, the water, or Gamecock Football.

Leslie has been employed with the South Carolina Judicial Branch in the Court Services division since September 2013.  Leslie works closely with Circuit Court Judges, Family Court Judges, and Clerks of Court on a number of policies and procedures impacting the trial courts. Prior to working for the Judicial Branch, she was employed by the Richland County Probate Court as director of the Mental Health Court program - a diversionary court designed for non-violent, mentally ill offenders. She also worked in the Probate Court's estate division. Leslie is a volunteer arbitrator with the Richland County Sheriff's Department and responsible for overseeing progress and completion of juvenile cases referred to the Youth Arbitration Program.

Leslie graduated from the University of South Carolina with a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice.

 

Marc J. Brown is the founding attorney of the Marc Brown Law Firm, based out of Columbia, South Carolina. He is licensed in both South Carolina and Georgia, and practices in the areas of Personal Injury and Workers’ Compensation. Although Marc’s practice is based in South Carolina and Georgia, he has represented clients in many jurisdictions across the United States. Marc earned a dual Bachelor’s Degrees in Psychology and Criminology from the University of South Carolina in 2009. He received his Juris Doctor from Emory University School of law in 2014. He initially began his legal career as an insurance defense lawyer with Carlock, Copeland & Stair. He then transitioned to Nelson, Mullins, Riley & Scarborough, where he represented multi-national corporations in complex commercial litigation. In 2019, Marc founded the Marc Brown Law Firm. Marc is a member of the South Carolina Bar, the State Bar of Georgia, the South Carolina Association for Justice, Georgia Trial Lawyers Associations, and the American Association for Justice. Marc currently serves on the following boards and committees: Children’s Trust of South Carolina (board member); City Year Columbia (board member); Communities in Schools of South Carolina (advisory committee). 

Teckla Henderson is Senior Counsel for Duke Energy’s South Carolina regulatory legal team. Her practice includes serving as in-house counsel and representing the utility before the Public Service Commission of South Carolina. Teckla’s previous role included serving as the Director of Executive Affairs and prosecutor for the SC Department of Public Safety. Teckla also prosecuted on behalf of the City of Columbia. She is also a two-time judicial law clerk, first to The Honorable Clifton Newman of the SC Circuit Court and then later for The Honorable Shirley Robinson of the SC Administrative Law Court. Teckla enjoys traveling the world, volunteering her time with the South Carolina Bar, and spending time with her husband, three young children, and brand new Cavapoo puppy, Sonny.

Tonnya Kohn was appointed the state court administrator by South Carolina Chief Justice Donald W. Beatty in July 2017. Tonnya earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law, a Master's degree from Murray State University, and a Bachelor of Science degree from Vanderbilt University. Tonnya clerked at the Columbia, South Carolina law firm Johnson, Toal & Battiste P.A. and for the Honorable Clifton Newman of the South Carolina Circuit Court, and practiced in a general practice law firm. Before attending law school, Tonnya was a newspaper editor at The State newspaper in Columbia, S.C., the Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Va., the Lexington Herald Leader in Lexington, Ky., and the Nashville Banner in Nashville, Tenn. Tonnya is a member of the Richland County Bar Association, the South Carolina Women Lawyers Association, and is on the executive committee of the National Judicial Task Force to Examine State Courts' Response to Mental Illness, and serves as the chair of the Conference of State Court Administrators' Language Access Advisory Committee.

Tristan Michael Shaffer is a 2009 graduate of Charleston School of Law. In addition to a private practice, he also serves, on a part-time basis, as Director of Litigation for the 8th Circuit Public Defender's Office. Mr. Shaffer started his career as a public defender in Richland County. He then went to work for Appellate Defense. Mr. Shaffer has spent several years in private practice handling a variety of matters including: criminal trials, post-conviction relief, personal injury, civil litigation and appeals.