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J. Michelle Childs honored with award

Recently, J. Michelle Childs was honored with the 2008 Trailblazer award at this year’s “I’m Every Woman Leadership Conference” held in Atlanta, Georgia. Childs is currently the Chief Administrative Judge for General Sessions and Business Courts for the Fifth Judicial Circuit of Richland and Kershaw Counties.

The “I’m Every Woman” Leadership Conference awards were started five years ago to highlight and honor dedicated and selfless women who make a difference every day and inspire others to do the same.

“It’s an honor to see my work be recognized,” said Childs. “I set goals and I work hard to accomplish them. Each year I gather young law students and medical students into my home and tell them my story. Hopefully, they will view me as a pioneer in my field as well as inspire them to do their best.”

Prior to becoming a judge, Childs was appointed by Governor James Hodges as a Workers’ Compensation Commissioner for a term beginning July 1, 2002. From 2000 to 2002, she served as the Deputy Director for the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation’s Division of Labor. She administered six programs - Wages and Child Labor, Elevators and Amusement Rides, Labor-Management Mediation, Migrant Labor, OSHA, and OSHA Voluntary Programs. Childs was formerly a Partner with the law firm of Nexsen, Pruet, Jacobs & Pollard, LLP, in Columbia, South Carolina, where she practiced in the areas of Employment and Labor Law and General Litigation.

Childs holds a B.S. degree in Management from the University of South Florida (1984), an M.A. degree in Personnel and Employment Relations from the University of South Carolina School of Business (1991), and a J.D. degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law (1991). She was admitted to the South Carolina Bar in 1992. She is also admitted to practice before the state and federal courts of South Carolina, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court.

Childs has received numerous awards, including the School of Law’s Compleat Lawyer Award, Silver Medallion (1997). She is married to Dr. Floyd Angus and is expecting their first child.