About Joshua Preston
Joshua Preston Stokes took a measured path into law. He earned a B.S. in 1999 from Presbyterian College, studying physics, computer science and music. He then returned to the classroom for a law degree, receiving his J.D. from Charleston School of Law in 2004. That combination of technical training and legal education appears throughout his career.
Stokes began practicing in the Charleston area. In 2007 he worked at the Law Office of Paul E. Tinkler, LLC. Three years later he opened his own small practice as the Law Office of Joshua P. Stokes, LLC. The next stage was a partnership: in 2011 he became an owner and partner at McCoy & Stokes, LLC. In 2020 he moved to the current structure, founding Stokes Legal, LLC, which operates as his principal office.
He is admitted to practice in South Carolina and in the Federal Circuit. He has held memberships in the South Carolina Bar Association, the Charleston Bar Association and the American Bar Association since 2007. Those ties have kept him connected to local court procedures and federal appellate rules alike. Colleagues describe him as methodical. Clients have encountered a lawyer who pays attention to procedural detail and to the mechanics of case preparation.
Stokes’s undergraduate studies in physics and computer science give him a readiness for technical material. He has applied that background when cases present complex factual questions or require careful analysis of data and systems. He also has training in music, an interest that colleagues say influences how he organizes time and constructs arguments. The parts of his résumé do not read like a conventional legal pedigree, and that difference shows up in how he frames issues for judges and opposing counsel.
Over nearly two decades in practice, Stokes has shifted among solo practice, partnership and firm ownership. That experience covers courtroom work, client counseling and the administrative side of running a small legal enterprise. He has continued to practice through affiliations with professional organizations and a steady presence in Charleston’s legal community.
He currently practices through Stokes Legal, LLC, handling matters in South Carolina and in matters that proceed before the Federal Circuit, and he maintains active bar membership status.
