About Jonathan Edmond Bennett
Jonathan Edmond Bennett Lewis built his academic foundation around international affairs and law. He earned a B.A. in War and Peace Studies from Norwich University in 2011, and returned to Norwich for an M.A. in International Affairs, completing that degree in 2015 with a concentration in terrorism and extremism. He went on to earn his J.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 2018.
Lewis began his legal career in public service. In 2016 he joined the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office as a law clerk on criminal appeals. The next year he served as a senior law clerk in the Fifth Judicial Circuit Solicitor’s Office, handling research and drafting for trial- and appellate-level matters. By 2019 he was working in the solicitor’s office as a special assistant solicitor, gaining courtroom experience that would inform his later work.
Alongside prosecutorial roles, Lewis took assignments that exposed him to other parts of the legal system. In 2019 he served as a staff lawyer for Richland County CASA, representing the interests of children in court-appointed advocacy settings. That same year he opened a private practice, serving as principal lawyer of The Law Office of Jonathan Lewis, LLC. His early mix of appellate, prosecutorial and advocacy work shaped a practice grounded in criminal law and courtroom procedure.
Lewis has been active in state legal circles. He has been a member of the South Carolina Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers since 2020 and joined the South Carolina Association for Justice in 2022. Since 2019 he has participated in the South Carolina Bar Association Pro Bono Program, taking pro bono matters through the state bar’s organized efforts. Those memberships reflect ongoing engagement with professional peers and community legal services.
He is admitted to practice in South Carolina and in the Federal District Court for the District of South Carolina. His work combines trial experience from the solicitor’s office, appellate exposure from his clerkships, and the day-to-day demands of running a small firm. He handles criminal defense matters and related proceedings in state and federal forums. He concentrates on criminal defense and related matters.
