+Michael Dickey

I have been in the financial service industry since 1989 and I have a MBA with concentration in Stats and Finance from the University of St Thomas (Saint Paul, MN). Through my 30+ years in the financial services industry I have coached, trained, and mentored employees, clients, family and friends.

I started out as an intern with Shearson Lehman Brothers and worked my way up to a SVP with First Tennessee Banks, and my wife and I have started and run multiple businesses in the upstate. I have had the great fortune of being married to my high school sweetheart for over 34 years and together we have raised two children. We have made our home in the Upstate of SC since 2007.

+Lena Freeman

I am a SC native as I was born and raised in the upstate of South Carolina. I attended Clemson University where I earned my Bachelors of Science Degree in Animal and Veterinary Sciences as well as a Masters of Agriculture from Oklahoma State University. I have been an insurance agent for nearly seven years now and have called Farm Bureau Insurance home since 2020.

I am also a single mother to an incredibly smart and rambunctious five-year-old boy named Clyde. I live and thrive in Spartanburg where I am actively involved in the community through my time and work with the SC Deaf and Blind School where I serve on the advisory committee as well as the PTO Secretary for Westview Elementary School.

My personal mission is to reach individuals, families, and business owners to educate them on the importance of life insurance and estate planning. My motto is “It’s my job to ask you about life insurance. Please don’t make it my job to tell them you didn’t have any.”

+Leslie Wilkerson

Before I was an Edward Jones financial advisor, I was an Edward Jones client. At the time I did not understand what a financial advisor was, but I knew she was important because she helped my mother plan for major financial life stages. The customer service kept me as a client because I never felt like a number or a dollar figure to my financial advisor. I was treated like everyone else regardless of what little money I invested at the beginning.

My previous career was a dead end, and I knew I needed a sense of purpose. Becoming an Edward Jones financial advisor was my 40th birthday present to myself. My interest in assisting women realize dreams, gain financial freedom and improve financial literacy has become my passion. I had no idea being raised by a single mom that was very open and honest about the household money (what we could and couldn't afford and why), and who taught me how to balance a check book and budget, would so heavily impact my money mindset and who I want to serve today.

While networking to grow my business, I saw that women and female small business owners were an underserved community in the upstate of South Carolina. I also found that women who were starting from ground zero were not getting attention needed to reach personal and business goals because they did not have instant cash or the knowledge of how to start.

+ryan Essington

Through enthusiastic education and passionate pre- planning, Ryan Essington has had the privilege of assisting countless families as the Advance Planning Funeral Director for Thomas McAfee Funeral Homes in Greenville, SC. He is a leading producer of pre-need funeral plans in the country and takes pride in his educational approach to ensure every family in the Upstate of South Carolina has an opportunity to understand the value of pre-planning.

A graduate of Worsham College of Mortuary Science, Ryan pursued Funeral Service as a second career after nearly 10 years supporting students through youth and young adult ministries in the Midwest. Now, he happily lives in Greenville with his wife, Holly and their four young children.

+Moderator: Jessica Ferguson

Jessica is the first person in her family to go to law school. After being home schooled through high school, she attended the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where she served as a Processor for the Forensic Anthropology Center ("The Body Farm") and graduated with a degree in Honors Psychology. Jessica then moved to South Carolina to pursue her law degree at the University of South Carolina School of Law.

Upon graduating from the UofSC, Jessica served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Amy W. McCulloch, Richland County Probate Court Judge. During this clerkship, Jessica collaborated with Judge McCulloch and Associate Probate Judge Jaqueline Belton to solve complex probate issues, instilling an understanding of and passion for probate law as the foundation of Jessica’s legal career.

Prior to joining Turner Padget, Jessica worked for South Carolina Legal Services, a non-profit law firm with a mission of providing equal access to justice for all. She was quickly promoted from Staff Attorney to Administration of Estates, Lead Attorney, and provided holistic legal services for indigent clients throughout the upstate, ranging from counsel and advice to extended services, with a focus in probate and elder law, including estate planning, administration, and litigation.

+ Kirby Mitchell

Kirby Mitchell is senior litigation attorney at South Carolina Legal Services, the state-wide legal aid office. Kirby represents low-income clients in a wide variety of civil cases in South Carolina’s state and federal courts, including the family, probate, circuit, appellate, and magistrate courts, as well as in administrative proceedings and in the U.S .Tax Court. He teaches a popular “Poverty and The Law” class at Furman (2011-2015) and received Furman’s Alumni Award in 2009.

The SC Bar Foundation and South Carolina Access to Justice Commission honored Kirby as their Legal Services Lawyer of the Year Award in 2013, and SC Lawyers Weekly named Kirby as its Leadership in Law award honoree in 2015.

He received a B.A. in economics in 1990 from Furman University in Greenville, SC, and a J.D. in 1996 from the School of Law at the University of Georgia in Athens, GA.

+ Edward Sauvain

Edward (Ted) Sauvain grew up in Greenville and is a graduate of Greenville High, UNC - Chapel Hill, U of SC Law School, and Georgetown Law School. He served as Associate Probate Judge to Judge Faulkner from 2002 to 2016. He worked as a lawyer in private practice in Greenville from 1979 until joining the Probate Court. He’s been retired since 2016 but serves as a volunteer mediator with the Upstate Mediation Center where he is on their Board. He also does limited private mediations.

+ The honorable Chad Groover

Judge Chad Groover was born in Florence SC to Roy and Diane Groover. Because his father was active duty with the U.S. Air Force, the family traveled all over the world. Judge Groover came back to South Carolina for college earning a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Bob Jones University in Greenville, SC in 1994. He then obtained a Juris Doctorate from the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University in Macon, GA in 1998. Judge Groover is a member of the South Carolina Bar and the Virginia State Bar.

Prior to his election as Greenville County Probate Judge in 2022, Judge Groover spent over 14 years in private practice, first in his own firm and then as the managing partner at Upstate Elder Law, P.A. In private practice, he primarily assisted clients with estate planning, probate and trust administration, guardianship/conservatorship cases, special needs planning, and Medicaid qualification.

Before private practice Judge Groover served as a Special Assistant United States Attorney in the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa where he served on an Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) prosecuting federal narcotics and gun crimes.

Prior to serving as a federal prosecutor, Judge Groover was Senator Charles Grassley’s (R-IA) staff Counsel on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee’s Crime Subcommittee from 2001 to 2006. In that position, he drafted and vetted legislation, planned hearings, wrote committee and floor statements, worked on federal judicial nominations (including the nominations of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court), and conducted oversight of the Department of Justice (USDOJ), the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), and the Department of Homeland Security (USDHS).

Judge Groover is a member of several professional organizations including: the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, the SC Bar Elder Law Committee, the Greenville Estate Planning Study Group, the Greenville Estate Planning Council, and the Greenville County Bar Association.

Chad is married to Gwen Groover and they have two children, Ava and Willes, and a miniature Bernedoodle puppy named Fergie. The Groovers are active members at Cornerstone Baptist Church were Chad serves as Deacon and small group leader.

+ The honorable Caroline Horlbeck

Caroline graduated from the College of Charleston with a Bachelor of Science in Biology. She was a member of Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership Honor Society and Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority. She obtained her Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina School of Law and was admitted to the practice of law in South Carolina. She moved to Greenville, South Carolina and began practicing law as an Assistant Public Defender in Greenville County. In 2003, she served as law clerk for Circuit Judge Edward W. Miller. She entered private practice in 2004 and practiced criminal, family and probate law. In 2014, Judge Horlbeck was sworn in as Associate Probate Judge with the Greenville County Probate Court. She presides over guardianship, conservatorship, commitment, and estate cases as well as the Greenville County Mental Health Court. She enjoys cycling, running, and skiing with her husband, Dean, family, and friends. She has a passion for homeless animals and enjoys spending time with their rescue dogs, Ava and Minnie, and teaching new tricks to Flossie, their beloved cockatiel.

+ The honorable Elizabeth Wiygul

Elizabeth Wiygul has been an Associate Probate Judge with the Greenville County Probate Court since 2016. She maintains a private criminal defense practice representing both adults and juveniles. She received her associate’s degree from Greenville Technical College and her BS and JD degree from the University of South Carolina. She also clerked for the Honorable G. Ross Anderson prior to beginning the practice of law.

+ Moderator: Jessica S. Ferguson

Jessica is the first person in her family to go to law school. After being home schooled through high school, she attended the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where she served as a Processor for the Forensic Anthropology Center ("The Body Farm") and graduated with a degree in Honors Psychology. Jessica then moved to South Carolina to pursue her law degree at the University of South Carolina School of Law.

Upon graduating from the UofSC, Jessica served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Amy W. McCulloch, Richland County Probate Court Judge. During this clerkship, Jessica collaborated with Judge McCulloch and Associate Probate Judge Jaqueline Belton to solve complex probate issues, instilling an understanding of and passion for probate law as the foundation of Jessica’s legal career.

Prior to joining Turner Padget, Jessica worked for South Carolina Legal Services, a non-profit law firm with a mission of providing equal access to justice for all. She was quickly promoted from Staff Attorney to Administration of Estates, Lead Attorney, and provided holistic legal services for indigent clients throughout the upstate, ranging from counsel and advice to extended services, with a focus in probate and elder law, including estate planning, administration, and litigation.