Law Clerk, United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas
Couselor, Florida Attorney General
Natalie Christmas currently serves as Counselor to the Attorney General for Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody. She previously served as Assistant Attorney General of Legal Policy.
Principal, Spero Law LLC
Christopher Mills is the founder of Spero Law LLC. He was previously a partner at a national law firm and a Constitutional Law Fellow at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. He served as a law clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas on the U.S. Supreme Court during October Term 2018. He also clerked for the Honorable David B. Sentelle, then-Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He has authored briefs and motions in the Supreme Court, courts of appeals, and trial courts, and successfully argued before the D.C. Circuit. He has served as special counsel to South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster, and is an Adjunct Professor at the Charleston School of Law.
A 2012 magna cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School, Christopher was a senior editor of the Harvard Law Review, an editor of the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, and served on the Executive Board of the Harvard Federalist Society. In 2009, he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude with a degree in economics from Furman University.
Christopher lives in Charleston, South Carolina with his wife, children, and golden retriever.
Legal Fellow, Spero Law LLC
Anna Edwards graduated magna cum laude from Regent University School of Law where she was named the 2022 Most Outstanding Graduate and where she served as the Executive Editor of Regent Law Review. During her time in law school she has worked as a legal intern for the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Legal Policy, as law clerk on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, and as a legal fellow at Spero Law, LLC. Following graduation, Anna is completing several federal clerkships. Specifically, Anna will serve as a law clerk for the Honorable Paul B. Matey of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit during the 2024-2025 term. Anna is a native of South Carolina and received her B.S. in Economics from Clemson University in 2019.
Shareholder, Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, P.A.
A versatile litigation and appellate attorney with deep ties to his native Charleston, South Carolina, Mac McQuillin blends an established government and business litigation practice with an emerging practice as a certified South Carolina Mediator. In addition to his law practice, Mac was elected in 2014 to serve on the Berkeley County School District Board (the fourth largest school district in South Carolina) and currently serves as the school board’s Vice Chairman and Chairman of the Facilities and Capital Planning Committee.
Prior to Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, Mac served as a law clerk to then South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, where he researched existing and proposed legislation and its impact on South Carolina. He also advised the Governor’s Chief Legal Counsel on various legal matters involving the Executive Office. Mac also clerked for South Carolina Senator George E. (Chip) Campsen III. While working for Senator Campsen, he was responsible for constituent research and provided assistance during Senate debates on tort reform.
Mac is listed in The Best Lawyers in America© Commercial Litigation (2020-2021) and South Carolina Super Lawyers® “Rising Stars” Business Litigation (2014-2020). In 2017, Mac was awarded the South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Leadership in Law Award and recognized by Charleston Business Magazine as one of the “Legal Elite of the Lowcountry” for Government Affairs.
Mac is a frequent speaker on government and litigation topics, including “Local Government Litigation Update – Impact Fee Litigation, Opioid Litigation (State and Federal) and FOIA,” “Legal Issues Affecting Local Government and Municipalities,” and “Recent Developments Under the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).”
Mac received his law degree, with honors, from the University of South Carolina School of Law (Order of Coif) and undergraduate degree from the University of South Carolina.
Partner, Holtzman Vogel Baran Torchinsky & Josefiak PLLC
Jason Torchinsky is a partner at Holtzman Vogel Josefiak PLLC, specializing in campaign finance, election law, lobbying disclosure and issue advocacy groups. Politico recently named him one of the “50 Politicos to Watch,” and in 2007, Campaigns and Elections Magazine named him a “Rising Star of Politics.”
In addition to his practice counseling clients on compliance with campaign finance, ethics laws, lobbying disclosure and election laws, Mr. Torchinsky has served as lead counsel in a number of litigation matters. Representative matters in the redistricting area include Louisiana House of Representatives v. Holder (D.D.C.) (Section 5 pre-clearance action), City of Sandy Springs v. Holder (D.D.C.) (Section 5 bailout action), and Fletcher v. Lamone (D. Md.) (challenging Maryland’s Congressional Districting map). In the campaign finance context, he is currently representing clients in Alliance for America’s Future v. State (Nevada Supreme Court) and Van Hollen v. Federal Election Commission (D.D.C.) (Representing intervenor defendants). He has also represented Virginia candidates in recounts and voter registration challenges before various Virginia Circuit Courts.
Mr. Torchinsky frequently lectures on campaign finance redistricting and ethics related subjects and provides commentary to the media on election related matters.
Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Torchinsky was Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division at the United States Department of Justice. During the 2004 election cycle, he served as Deputy General Counsel to Bush-Cheney ’04 and Deputy General Counsel to the 2005 Presidential Inaugural Committee.
He holds a B.A. in Government and Public Policy from the College of William and Mary and a J.D. from the College of William and Mary School of Law. He is a member of the Virginia Bar, the District of Columbia Bar, the Republican National Lawyers Association and the Federalist Society.
Senior Associate, Holtzman Vogel Josefiak Torchinsky PLLC
Drew Watkins is a senior associate with Holtzman Vogel Josefiak Torchinsky PLLC, providing counsel in the areas of campaign finance and election law, lobbying and ethics compliance, and tax-exempt organizations.
Prior to joining the firm, Drew served as a law clerk to the Honorable Joseph R. Goeke, Senior Judge of the United States Tax Court in Washington, D.C., and worked in the Office of General Counsel for the Governor of Kentucky, Matthew G. Bevin. While in law school, Drew served as a law clerk for the Kentucky Executive Branch Ethics Commission and interned for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in his office in Washington, D.C.
Drew graduated from the University of Louisville with a B.S. in Justice Administration. He earned his Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from the University of Kentucky College of Law and was a member of the Order of the Coif. During law school, he served as a senior staff editor on the Kentucky Law Journal and authored a published student note on the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act. He is a member of the Kentucky, D.C. and Virginia bars and the Federalist Society.
South Carolina Supreme Court
John W. Kittredge was born in Greenville, South Carolina in 1956 and is the son of Elwyn Herbert, Jr. (deceased) and Marian Jeffries Kittredge. John married Lila Graham Hewell on June 20, 1981. John and Lila have three children, Lila Marian, Will and Zay. The Kittredges are members of First Presbyterian Church in Greenville.
Justice Kittredge graduated from the University of South Carolina, summa cum laude, in 1979. He graduated from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1982. Academic honors include Phi Beta Kappa, Order of the Coif, and Wig and Robe.
Justice Kittredge began his legal career as a law clerk to The Honorable William W. Wilkins, Jr. He practiced law in the firm of Wilkins, Nelson and Kittredge. Justice Kittredge was actively involved in community and state service: Governor's Committee on Crime and Delinquency; Governor's Juvenile Justice Task Force; Greenville Technical College Foundation (Vice-President); City of Greenville Civil Service Commission (Chairman); Greenville County Crime Stoppers (President); Board of Directors of Child Evangelism Fellowship. In addition to his admission to the South Carolina Bar, Justice Kittredge is also admitted to practice before the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, United States Court of Military Appeals, United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, United States Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court.
Justice Kittredge was elected to the South Carolina family court bench in 1991. He was elected to the circuit court bench in 1996, and the Court of Appeals in 2003. Justice Kittredge was elected to the Supreme Court in 2008.
Chief Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
JEFFREY S. SUTTON is the Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He has served as Chair of the Federal Judicial Conference Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure, Chair of the Advisory Committee on Appellate Rules, and Chair of the Supreme Court Fellows Commission. He currently serves as Chair of the Executive Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States. Since 1993, Chief Judge Sutton has been an adjunct professor at The Ohio State University College of Law, where he teaches seminars on State Constitutional Law, the United States Supreme Court, and Appellate Advocacy. He also teaches a class on State Constitutional Law at Harvard Law School. Among other publications, he is the author of Who Decides? States as Laboratories of Constitutional Experimentation and 51 Imperfect Solutions: States and the Making of American Constitutional Law. He is the co-author of a casebook, State Constitutional Law: The Modern Experience, as well as The Law of Judicial Precedent. He is also the co-editor of The Essential Scalia: On the Constitution, the Courts, and the Rule of Law. In 2006, Chief Judge Sutton was elected to the American Law Institute, and in 2017 he was elected to its Council.
Transporting Abortifacients Across State Lines: Prospects for Indictment and Extradition
Paul Linton
On January 31, 2025, a Louisiana grand jury indicted a New York physician—Dr. Margaret Carpenter—for...
South Carolina Supreme Court Holds Unconstitutional Law Providing State Funds to Students for Private School Expenses
Jared C. Huber
The South Carolina Legislature passed the Education Scholarship Trust Fund Act (ESTF) to “provide scholarships...
South Carolina Supreme Court Upholds Heartbeat Abortion Ban
Natalie Christmas
In Planned Parenthood South Atlantic v. State (Planned Parenthood II), the South Carolina Supreme Court...
Topics
Rights to Privacy and Life Were Compatible until Roe
Half a century ago, the U.S. Supreme Court held that a federal constitutional right...
State Court Docket Watch: Wilson v. City of Columbia
Christopher E. Mills, Anna Edwards
In Wilson v. City of Columbia,[1] the South Carolina Supreme Court held that a city...
State Court Docket Watch: Adams v. McMaster
Stafford (Mac) J. McQuillin
Background In early March, South Carolina’s Governor, Henry McMaster, issued a State of Emergency following...
State Court Docket Watch: Bailey v. South Carolina State Election Commission
Jason Torchinsky, Andrew Watkins
In Bailey v. South Carolina State Election Commission, the Supreme Court of South Carolina, accepting...
A discussion of Judge Sutton’s acclaimed book, 51 Imperfect Solutions: States and the Making of American Constitutional Law
Charleston, SCCharleston Lawyers Chapter Luncheon
Charleston Lawyers Chapter
Charleston, SCThe Fight Over ABA Rule 8.4(g) Proceeds to the States
As has been noted, the American Bar Association has proposed the adoption of a new...