Zach Ellis was raised in Shelby, North Carolina and Spartanburg, South Carolina.  After graduating with a bachelor’s degree from Wake Forest University, Zach earned his law degree from The George Washington University School of Law in Washington, D.C.  While in law school, Zach worked with a private law firm in Charlotte, North Carolina, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Maryland State’s Attorney’s Office, and the office of the Chief Judge of the Virginia Court of Appeals.

Zach returned to the Upstate after law school to serve as The Honorable J. Derham Cole’s judicial law clerk during his first year of practice.  He then served as an Assistant Solicitor in Anderson, South Carolina where he handled property crimes before returning to Spartanburg in 2005 to work as an Assistant Solicitor in the Seventh Circuit Solicitor’s Office.

Zach was the DUI prosecutor in Spartanburg for over three years.  While in this role, the office was recognized as South Carolina’s Judicial Circuit of the Year in the field of DUI Prosecution.  He then joined the office’s violent crimes team, during which time he prosecuted cases involving murder, armed robbery, burglary, kidnapping, aggravated assault and felony DUI resulting in death or great bodily injury.

Zach also has been invited to speak on various legal and ethical issues for the South Carolina Bar, the South Carolina Solicitors’ Association, the South Carolina Summary Court Judges Association, the South Carolina Highway Patrol, the State Law Enforcement Division, the United States Marine Corps, and numerous local law enforcement agencies, local universities and civic groups.

In private practice since 2012, Zach represents clients in matters involving criminal and DUI defense, Family Court and civil litigation.  His zealous representation of his clients earned him the honor of being named by The National Trial Lawyers Association as one of South Carolina’s Top 100 Criminal Defense Lawyers.