The Honorable R. Chadwick Smith is a lifelong resident of South Carolina. Judge Smith received a B.A. from Winthrop University in 1994 and a J.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1999. After graduating from law school, Judge Smith served as law clerk for Judge John C. Hayes, III of the Sixteenth Circuit Court of South Carolina from 1999 to 2000. At the end of his clerkship, he served as Assistant Solicitor in the Sixteenth Circuit Solicitor’s Office from 2000 to 2001. He then entered private practice in Rock Hill from 2001 to 2013 as an associate with the law firm Harrelson, Hayes and Guyton and then as a sole practitioner. He served as a staff attorney for the SCDSS from 2013 to 2021 and then as the managing attorney for the SCDSS legal departments in York and Union counties from 2021 until his election to the bench.

Judge Smith practiced family law exclusively for twenty-two years, with an emphasis in Family Court litigation. He represented clients in the private and public sectors before the Family Court and the South Carolina Court of Appeals. He represented clients in a wide array of family law matters, including divorce and equitable division; child custody and visitation; child and spousal support; adoption; and abuse and neglect. He was a certified Family Court mediator and mediated numerous cases involving complex marital litigation; child custody; spousal support; property and debt division; and child visitation. He served as guardian ad litem for numerous children subject to cases involving custody disputes; modification of custody; visitation; adoption; and abuse and neglect. He represented the SCDSS and litigated numerous complex cases involving abuse and neglect of children.

Judge Smith served as a member of the Resolution of Fee Disputes Board for the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit; a member of the South Carolina Bar Law Related Education Committee; the South Carolina Bar Children’s Law Committee; a scoring judge for high school and middle school mock trial competitions throughout South Carolina; an instructor for Law School for Non-Lawyers; and Secretary and Treasurer of the York County Bar Association.

Judge Smith is an active member of his church and has served as a deacon, a youth Sunday School teacher and as a member of the Board of Deacons. He served as a board member of the Boys and Girls Club of York County and volunteered as a youth soccer and basketball coach. He is a member of the Kiwanis Club of Rock Hill and has served as a volunteer with the Terrific Kids Program.

Judge Smith was elected by the South Carolina General Assembly as Family Court Judge, Sixteenth Judicial Circuit, Seat 3, on April 17, 2024. He began his service on the bench on July 1, 2024. He is married to April Smith and they are proud parents of two sons. He enjoys traveling with his family and playing golf.