Summerton Lawyers

Ralitsa François was born in Livingston, New Jersey but spent most of her life in Buford, Georgia. She is the daughter and descendant of Haitian immigrants and is very proud of her Haitian heritage. Ralitsa graduated from Queens University of Charlotte, cum laude, where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with minors in Pre-Law and Psychology. There, she balanced being a student-athlete where she served as an executive member of the National Political Science Honor Society, Pi Sigma Alpha, and was a co-captain and member of the Queens University of Charlotte Cheerleading Team. After college, Ralitsa worked in...

Cole Lawrimore was born and raised on his family’s tobacco farm in the rural, Pleasant Hill community of Georgetown County. As the son of a school administrator, Cole’s family moved frequently throughout the State of South Carolina with stops in Georgetown, Mt. Pleasant, Walhalla, and Newberry. Cole graduated from Newberry High School and attended Wofford College on an academic scholarship. In between attending social events, Cole was a Dean’s List student and the Vice Chairman of the Honor Council. After graduating from Wofford with a degree in accounting, Cole attended the Charleston School of Law. During his time there, Cole was...

J.D., High Honors, George Washington University Law School.
Ph.D., Chemistry, The Johns Hopkins University.
B.S., Chemistry, Juniata College (Huntingdon, PA) and Leeds University (England)

Thrive IP, Managing Member, since 2005.
Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, L.L.P., 1997-2005.

Dr. Stipkala serves clients in all aspects of intellectual property law, from evaluating freedom to operate to securing patents, trademarks, and copyrights, to providing strategic advice regarding trade secrets and managing intellectual property for strategic business advantage.

Lara N. Browne is an attorney at the Steinberg Law Firm, focusing on workers’ compensation law. Before joining the firm, she served as Legal Counsel for a large self-insured healthcare organization in the Lowcountry, managing a workers’ compensation program for over 6,000 employees. Her background includes extensive defense-side experience, having represented employers, insurance carriers, and third-party administrators at a major defense firm. This insight allows her to navigate cases strategically on behalf of injured workers. After a decade on the defense side, Lara transitioned to representing injured workers, finding fulfillment in advocating for their rights and alleviating their stress. A graduate...

Former prosecutor A. Randolph "Randy" Hough has a strong background in criminal law. Before entering private practice, he served as a prosecutor for the Fifth Judicial Circuit of South Carolina, handling numerous crimes ranging from drug trafficking to white-collar crimes to murder.

He also handled complex federal drug charges as a Special Assistant United States Attorney. Few other local defense lawyers can claim this extensive background in prosecuting crimes at both the state and federal level. Mr. Hough has defended cases in South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, and is a member of the South Carolina Bar, United States District Court for...

H. Ronald Stanley is a native of Conway, South Carolina and an accomplished graduate of Virginia State College and the University of South Carolina School of Law. Mr. Stanley is licensed to practice in both State and Federal Courts of South Carolina and before the United States Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.

An accomplished Trial Lawyer, Mr. Stanley has been engaged in the practice of law in Columbia, South Carolina since 1977. He has handled numerous wrongful death and catastrophic personal injury cases resulting in significant jury verdicts and settlements for his clients. Mr. Stanley has served by special appointment as...

Carl was born and raised in the upstate of South Carolina, but he has called Columbia home for the last 14 years. Born into a family of lawyers, Carl knew from a young age that he wanted to be a trial attorney and prides himself in helping others. After high school, Carl matriculated to the University of South Carolina where he graduated magna cum laude from The University of South Carolina Darla Moore School of Business in 2010 with a B.S. in Accounting. He graduated cum laude from The University of South Carolina School of Law in 2013. He received membership...

I am a veteran of the U.S. Army, retiring with about 30 years of service in both the active Army and the Texas National Guard as a Combat Engineer and Judge Advocate. My military experience makes me uniquely qualified to provide legal services to military members, veterans, and retirees in all areas of law.

In 2018, Matthew graduated from the University of South Carolina School of Law, ranking fourth in his law school class. During his time in law school, Matthew served as an Associate Editor-in-Chief for the South Carolina Law Review, where he authored a published article entitled State of Fear: Domestic Violence in South Carolina. Matthew was also inducted into the Order of the Coif and received the 2018 John O. MacDougall Family Law Award. After graduating law school, Matthew spent two years serving as a law clerk to the Honorable John D. Geathers at the South Carolina Court of Appeals. Matthew joined Strom...

Amy has worked with Strom Law Firm since 2006 and practices primarily from the firm’s Spartanburg, SC office. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from the University of South Carolina in Spartanburg in 1995 and a Juris Doctor degree from University of South Carolina School of Law in 2001. While at USC Law, Amy served as vice president of the Student Bar Association and wrote for the South Carolina Environmental Law Journal. As a member of the Moot Court Bar, she was captain of the ABA National Appellate Advocacy Competition Team, trained against Assistant United States Attorneys at...

Marissa Fish received her J.D. from the University of Massachusetts School of Law-Dartmouth, where she graduated magma cum laude. Before Law school, Marissa received her M.S in Criminal Justice from Charleston Southern University. Having grown up in a military family and marrying into the military, Marissa has lived in many places. She was born in Maryland, but now calls South Carolina home, residing in the Aiken area with her husband.

Patrick T. Napolski attended Clemson University where he was on the Dean’s List. Patrick then went to Charleston School of Law. While at Law school, he was a member of Student Trial Lawyers Association and American Bar Association Committee, among other activities. Outside of work, Patrick is a judge for various moot court and mock trial competitions, a member of the South Carolina Bar Association’s Professional Development Committee, and a mentor in Charleston School of Law’s Mentoring Program. Patrick is licensed to practice law in Illinois, South Carolina, and the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina.

John Paul is an associate in the Lovely Law Firm’s Goose Creek, South Carolina office. He received two separate B.S. degrees in Marketing and Finance from Clemson University in 2011. After graduating from Clemson University, Mr. Simkovich attended the University of South Carolina School of Law where he completed his Juris Doctor in 2014.

Kennedy was born and raised in Columbia, South Carolina. She attended the University of South Carolina and graduated in 2018. After college Kennedy moved to Birmingham, Alabama where she attended Cumberland School of Law. While there, she wrote for the American Journal of Trial Advocacy, interned for the Honorable Karon O. Bowdre for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, and received the Scholar of Merit for Mass Tort litigation. During her time at Cumberland, Kennedy served as the Public Interest Chair, an exec member for the South Carolina Student Bar Association and volunteered for Legal Services...

Prior to founding Miller|Conway, David worked as an attorney for a Chicago, Illinois based boutique trial law firm, which was retained by some of the largest law firms in the world to litigate multi-million dollar disputes between Fortune 500 companies. He also worked as a consultant on numerous highly litigious, high-value cases. David also worked with Corporate Counsel for the Law Department of the City of Chicago where he defended the City of Chicago against Section 1983 claims. David gained invaluable trial experience assisting a team of attorneys in a highly-publicized matter involving an Illinois State Senator. David’s team achieved...

Alexandra “Ally” Benevento focuses her practice on state and federal criminal defense, civil rights and civil litigation. She has successfully represented thousands of individuals in state and federal courts. Alexandra is admitted to the South Carolina Bar, as well as the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina. She has previously been admitted pro hac vice to, and successfully represented clients in numerous federal district courts across the country. She is a member of the South Carolina Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (SCACDL), the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), the South Carolina Association for Justice (SCAJ),...