SLED charges former legal assistant with impersonating a lawyer

CHARLESTON, S.C. - The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division has charged a former legal assistant at the Ninth Circuit Public Defender’s Office after she allegedly impersonated a lawyer.

Lashonda Charlen Ravenell, 37, who worked as a legal assistant at the Ninth Circuit Public Defender’s Office, is charged with impersonating a lawyer, according to SLED.

The affidavit alleged that Ravenell received a civil settlement from another party’s insurance company after she was involved in a three-vehicle traffic collision on Interstate 26 on Sept. 11, 2025.

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She then sent a letter to the owner of the at-fault vehicle in the collision on Feb. 4, 2026, and demanded $8,180 for her damages.

Ravenell, who was employed as a legal assistant by the Ninth Circuit Public Defender’s Office at the time, represented herself as a lawyer by signing the letter as “Lashonda Ravenell Senior Assistant Public Defender.”

She also allegedly utilized the Public Defender’s letterhead on the demand letter and on the envelope.

It was later discovered that Ravenell is not licensed to practice law in South Carolina, according to the South Carolina Bar.

She was booked into the Al Cannon Detention Center.