Founding Attorney
Jessica Means is a founding attorney at Hall & Means, LLC, where she represents clients across the full range of South Carolina family law — divorce, custody, alimony, support, and equitable distribution. Her practice has increasingly included high-asset divorces and complex financial matters: marital businesses, hidden or undervalued assets, and the kind of equitable distribution that requires working with forensic accountants, asset valuation experts, and other financial professionals alongside Mary Ann. She has also served as a Guardian ad Litem since law school — substantial experience in cases involving children that complements her work as a litigator.
If you are facing a divorce, you can read what working with the Charleston divorce lawyers at Hall & Means looks like, from the first call on.
Jessica grew up on Cape Cod, Massachusetts and earned her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Massachusetts Boston in 2005. She moved to South Carolina that year and began her legal career as a paralegal — including time working under Mary Ann Hall, where her interest in family law was first sparked — before earning her Juris Doctor from the Charleston School of Law in 2011. During law school she performed more than 100 pro bono hours as a lay Guardian ad Litem in DSS abuse and neglect cases in Charleston County Family Court.
Jessica opened Means Law Firm, LLC in 2012 and in 2016 merged her practice with her longtime mentor to form Hall & Means, LLC. From 2013 to 2018 she represented lay Guardians ad Litem in Charleston and Dorchester County Family Courts handling abuse and neglect cases — formative work that grounds the Private Guardian ad Litem practice she continues today in custody disputes. In 2016 she received the President's Award from the South Carolina Bar Young Lawyers Division for her service as Co-Chair of the Families Forever Committee, which promotes adoption and foster care in South Carolina. She was selected to the South Carolina Super Lawyers Rising Stars list in 2021.
Jessica is a member in good standing with the South Carolina Bar, the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, the Charleston County Bar, and the South Carolina Women Lawyers Association. In 2023, she and her husband adopted their daughter after years of waiting for their forever family. Outside the office, she enjoys boating, the outdoors, time with family and friends, and traveling to tropical destinations.
Practice Areas
