The Candidate

Leah Moody
Democratic Candidate for South Carolina State Senate, #17
P.O. Box 10710, Rock Hill, South Carolina 29731
Phone (803) 327-4192
Fax (803) 329-3009
E-Mail:

Leah Bess Moody, a native of Rock Hill, S.C., is the daughter of Representative Dr. Bessie Ayers Moody-Lawrence and the late Lindberg Moody, Sr., both former public school educators. She spent many summers in Chester, S.C. with her grandmother, the late Bessie L. Ayers, a former public school teacher in Chester County.

Leah, a successful attorney, opened her own law firm on July 1, 2004 in Rock Hill, S.C., her dream of owning her own practice has allowed her to practiced in the area of probate, personal injury, workers' compensation, municipal/government and criminal defense.

Prior to opening her own practice, Leah was an associate at Rinehart, Matthew, Schiller, Shaw & Reeves, P.A., where she practiced in the litigation department focusing on business, construction, criminal defense, and domestic law.

Leah was appointed by the former Honorable Governor Jim Hodges as his Deputy Legal Counsel in 1999. During that appointment, she handled legal issues for the Governor's Office in various policy areas for local, county and statewide matters. As the Extradition's Coordinator, she assisted local agencies extraditing fugitives to and from the state on behalf of South Carolina. She staffed various task force committees on behalf of Governor Hodges including the Hispanic and Campaign Finance Task Forces.

Before Leah accepted the appointment from Governor Hodges, she served as Staff Attorney to the Senate Judiciary Committee of the S.C. Senate chaired by the late Honorable Don Holland, where she assisted in research and drafted legislation for committee members.

Leah was also a Fifth Circuit Solicitor under the leadership of Solicitor W. Barney Giese in Richland County, where she started her legal career prosecuting DUIs and property crime cases and, subsequently, she became a special drug prosecutor.

Leah received her Bachelors Degree in Political Science from Hampton University in 1992, and her Juris Doctorate Degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1996. While at Hampton University and USC, she was involved in numerous extracurricular activities. At USC, she served as Class Representative to the Student Bar Association and Dean's Student Advisory Committee in the School of Law. At Hampton, she served as President of the Pan Hellenic Counsel, Student Intern to Congressman (then Senator) Robert C. Scott, Student Volunteer to the Governor Douglas Wilder Campaign, Hampton Student Leader, Student Government Executive Counsel in her sophomore, junior and senior years, and Hampton Lady Pirates Volleyball team.

Leah's community leadership experiences are vast. Currently, she sits on the Upper Palmetto YMCA Board, York County Democratic Party Executive Committee, S.C. Women Lawyers Association, Board of Directors, City of Rock Hill Zoning Board of Appeals and University of S.C. Law School Alumni Board and Rock Hill School District Foundation Board. Rock Hill School District Foundation Board, which is a foundation that is dedicated to providing grants to teachers to assist in alternative methods of learning for students in the classroom. She is a member of the S.C. Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, S.C. Black Lawyers Association, S.C. Injured Workers' Advocates, S.C. Trial Lawyers Association and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. She has served on the Board of the Boys and Girls Club of York County.

She also has served as a member on the S.C. Bar Board of Governors, House of Delegates, Chair of the S.C. Bar Diversity Task Force, Chair of the S.C. Bar Young Lawyers Association, Chair of S.C. Young Lawyers Community Law Week, Chair of At-Risk Youth Committee, Chair of Minority Pre-Law Committee, Director of Diversity of the American Bar Association, Coach of Columbia Jewish Synagogue Girls Basketball (ages 7-9), Young Lawyers Associates, Chair of the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Association Diversity and Inclusiveness Committee, member of ABA Affiliate Newsletter, Upstate YMCA Wellness and Aquatics Center, National Bar Association- Young Lawyers Board of Directors. Leah is a member of Hermon Presbyterian Church in Rock Hill, South Carolina.