High Point University School of Law Faculty

Sola Babatunde serves as the director of the Kahn School of Law Library, where he oversees library programs, services, and administration. Reporting to the dean, Sola manages the library’s strategic planning, budget, and staff, and ensures the collection and resources meet the teaching and research needs of faculty and learning needs of students. He previously served as the Associate Librarian for Access and Head of Public Service at Liberty University School of Law Library. At different times, he also served as Reference Librarian at Liberty University Law Library and Government Documents Librarian at Thurgood Marshall Law School.

He holds degrees from the University of Lagos (LLB, LLM), Southern Methodist University (LLM), University of North Texas (MILS), and Liberty University (MDiv). Sola is active in the professional community. He is a member of the International Association of Law Libraries, Association of American Law Libraries, Southeastern Association of Law Libraries, Dallas Association of Law Libraries, and the Law Library Association of Greater New York. He has also chaired the Community Service Committee of the Southeastern Association of Law Libraries. Sola’s leadership is defined by his commitment to strategic growth, technology integration, and collaboration with stakeholders.

Mr. Berger is joining the faculty of High Point University, Kenneth F. Kahn School of Law. He begins his new position after finishing a term as a judge on the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court in Virginia. His judicial service included serving on the Juvenile Domestic Relations Digital Systems Advisory Committee and the Department of Education Superintendents and Judges Liaison Committee. In addition, Mr. Berger served on the Executive Board of the Association of District Court Judges of Virginia, Inc., as treasurer.

Prior to serving as a judge, Mr. Berger practiced law for 17 years in Virginia. His main practice areas were in family law, which included experience as a guardian ad litem for children, and criminal defense. He served as the Executive Vice-President on the Board of Rappahannock Legal Services (currently Legal Aid Works), and a term as president of the Culpeper County Bar Association. In 2006, the Virginia Business Magazine recognized Mr. Berger as a Legal Elite (Family/Domestic Relations).

Mr. Berger received his Juris Doctor from Regent University School of Law, Cum Laude, and his B. A. in Geography from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

After obtaining her bachelor’s degree from Ohio University in 2009, Prof. Castillo attended Western Michigan University, Cooley Law, where she graduated with honors. While in law school, she interned for the Michigan House of Representatives, Ingham County Circuit Court, and Fauquier County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office. Upon graduation in 2013, she served as a Special Assistant Commonwealth Attorney in Virginia until joining the VA Board of Veterans Appeal as an attorney and a few years later serving as an Acting Veterans Law Judge.

At the Board of Veterans Appeals, Prof. Castillo developed a robust proficiency in interpreting and applying complex legal principles, litigating over 1,700 appeals for VA disability benefits and presiding over 94 appeals as an Acting Veterans Law Judge. Along the way, she found her passion: serving those who fought for our Country. Propelled by this passion for veterans, she has received numerous accolades for excellence in writing and productivity and was selected to mentor newly hired attorneys and Veteran Law Judges. In her role at HPU Law, Prof. Castillo looks forward to sharing her love of veterans law with the next generation of lawyers.

Professor DeAdder has thirteen years of experience teaching legal writing. She was an adjunct professor in the legal writing program at NCCU School of Law for two years before accepting a full-time position in 2014. She has taught 1L legal writing courses as well as upper-level legal writing courses, such as Appellate Advocacy and Judicial Opinion Writing.

As a member of the North Carolina Appellate Defender Roster, Professor DeAdder uses her legal writing skills to serve indigent clients. She represents defendants appealing their convictions to the appellate courts of North Carolina.

Hon. Robert (“Bob”) H. Edmunds currently serves as HPU Law’s first Jurist-in-Residence and Lecturer on Law.

Following service as a line officer in the United States Navy, Bob Edmunds began his legal career as an Assistant District Attorney in Guilford County, North Carolina. He was later named an Assistant United States Attorney for the Middle District of North Carolina and was then appointed in 1986 by President Ronald Reagan to serve as the United States Attorney. President George H.W. Bush retained Edmunds as United States Attorney until he left to enter private practice in 1993.

While in private practice, Edmunds practiced criminal and appellate law with a firm in Greensboro, and he became board certified as a specialist in state and federal criminal law and in appellate practice. In 1998 Bob Edmunds was elected to the North Carolina bench. He first served on the North Carolina Court of Appeals and then served for sixteen years—from 2001 to 2016—as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of North Carolina. After his judicial service, Justice Edmunds reentered private practice, working in the appellate practice section of the Greensboro office of Fox Rothschild, LLP.

Throughout his career, Justice Edmunds has exemplified a heart of service. He has served as President of the Appellate Judges Education Institute and as a member of the Education Committee of the National Judicial College. He is the past Chair of both the American Bar Association’s Appellate Judges Conference and the North Carolina Bar Association’s Judicial Independence and Integrity Committee. He is an elected member of the American Law Institute and has served as an adjunct professor at multiple law schools. He also contributes his time to community service and has donated blood more than 100 times since college.

Justice Edmunds received his A.B. from Vassar College and his J.D. from the University of North Carolina School of Law. While on the Supreme Court, he earned a Master of Law in the Judicial Process at the University of Virginia School of Law.

Gantt assumed his position at HPU Law in September 2022, after serving for 22 years in a variety of esteemed roles in legal education. Through his teaching, presentations, and scholarship, he has focused primarily on law school academic support, legal education reform, legal ethics, and professional identity formation. Gantt is recognized as a national leader on law student and lawyer well-being, and how legal education should foster integrity as an important personal and professional value. With extensive experience in both law and theology, Gantt previously served as the inaugural executive director of the Harvard Law School Program on Biblical Law and Christian Legal Studies and a lecturer on law.

Prior to his role at Harvard, Gantt served for 21 years in various roles at Regent University School of Law, most recently as a professor, associate dean for academic affairs, and co-director of Regent’s Center for Ethical Formation and Legal Education Reform.

Gantt earned his Juris Doctor at Harvard Law School, his Master of Divinity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and his Bachelor of Arts in psychology and political science at Duke University.

Gantt currently serves as an advisory member of the American Bar Association’s Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs (CoLAP) and as a member of CoLAP’s Well-Being Pledge Committee. He serves as Vice President of Law Schools for the Institute for Well-Being in Law (IWIL), where he is a member of the IWIL Research and Scholarship and Law School Committees. He also serves as a faculty presenter at the Christian Legal Society Fellows Program and as a Senior Research Fellow at the Mockler Center for Faith and Ethics in the Public Square at Gordon-Conwell.

Scott Gaylord directs High Point Law’s Appellate Advocacy Clinic and serves as a Professor of Law, teaching Constitutional Law and related upper-level elective courses. The Appellate Clinic works with students to write and file briefs in significant court cases, including appeals before the United States Supreme Court.

Professor Gaylord is a prominent Constitutional Law scholar with an impressive background in both academia and legal practice. He has authored or co-authored 18 substantial law review articles, co-authored a Constitutional Law casebook, and has written more than 35 amicus briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court and federal circuit courts on prominent national cases involving religious liberty and free speech. He is a frequent speaker on constitutional law and First Amendment topics at law schools across the country and has regularly provided commentary on ongoing constitutional issues to national media outlets, including the New York Times, USA Today, The Diane Rehm Show, NPR, The National Constitution Center, and Bloomberg Law.

Professor Gaylord also started an appellate advocacy clinic at his former law school and currently serves on the North Carolina Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism, along with holding many other service and leadership roles. Prior to joining the academy in 2007, he practiced complex civil and commercial litigation with the Charlotte firm of Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson, and he clerked for Judge Edith H. Jones on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Professor Gaylord earned his B.A. in philosophy and English, summa cum laude, from Colgate University, his Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and his J.D. from Notre Dame Law School, where he also graduated summa cum laude.

Jennifer L. Martin is a Clinical Associate Professor of Law and the Director of Clinical Programs at HPU Law.

Prior to joining the academy, she dedicated her twenty-five-year legal career to public service. After graduating from law school in 1999, she began serving as a District Court prosecutor in the Forsyth County District Attorney’s Office. She served that office with distinction and finished as the Chief Assistant District Attorney.

In her past position as Chief ADA, Professor Martin has tried 80 jury trials, including 15 First Degree murder trials, to verdict. She often worked closely with law enforcement agencies to advise preliminary investigations and comfort grieving families, guiding them through the trial process.

Professor Martin has a track record of starting positive community programs, including an Elder Abuse Task Force and a community outreach license restoration program. She also developed a long-term collaborative partnership between local universities, campus police, and university athletic departments to support student-athletes off the field.

Professor Martin is actively engaged with community initiatives. She serves on the Forsyth County Commissioner’s Commission on Ending Homelessness, the CURE Violence steering committee, her local Juvenile Crime Prevention Council, and the Forsyth County School Justice Partnership. In addition, she has served on the board of The Ronald McDonald House, The Parenting Path, the Bethesda Center for the Homeless, and Mediation Services of Forsyth County. She is a frequent guest speaker at law schools and universities across North Carolina, as well as law enforcement agencies.

Professor Martin graduated from Wake Forest University with a B.A. in English and a minor in Women’s Studies and received her J.D. from Wake Forest University School of Law. She will teach Criminal Law in addition to her role overseeing HPU Law’s community law clinic.

Hon. Mark Martin is the Founding Dean and Professor of Law at the Kenneth F. Kahn School of Law at High Point University. He is a respected voice in both judicial and academic circles, an accomplished attorney, jurist and professor, as well as an advocate for access to justice, legal reform, and innovation in legal education.

During his judicial career, Martin served at every level of the state court system and ultimately as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina from 2014-2019. At the time of his respective installations, Martin was the youngest member in history of the Supreme Court and the North Carolina Court of Appeals.

Martin successfully advocated for juvenile justice reform through a program called “Raise the Age.” In addition, he established the NC Pro Bono Resource Center to improve access to justice. Martin has served on the Committee on Federal-State Jurisdiction of the United States Judicial Conference. He also served on the Board of Directors and as chair of the Professionalism and Competence of the Bar Committee of the Conference of Chief Justices, an organization with a direct influence on the development of codes of ethics and legal best practices nationwide.

Martin has served as the dean at two U.S. law schools. He currently serves as the founding dean of High Point Law and formerly served as dean at Regent University School of Law. He has taught law students at five law schools—Duke, High Point, NC Central, Regent, and UNC. Martin has expertise in multiple areas of the law. He co-taught a course on the various modes of constitutional interpretation with Associate Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. of the Supreme Court of the United States. He has also taught law courses in appellate advocacy, election law, professional identity formation, professional responsibility, and trial practice.

Martin previously served as chair of the American Bar Association (ABA) Judicial Division and Appellate Judges Conference. He has also chaired the Appellate Judges Education Institute (AJEI) Board of Directors. He is a member of the American Law Institute, where he assisted with the Third Restatement, Conflict of Laws, and served on the Region 15 Advisory Committee. He chairs the Thomson Reuters Judicial Advisory Council. He also served as a founding board member of the Bolch Judicial Institute at Duke Law School. At the state level, Martin serves as a member of the Judicial Independence Committee of the North Carolina Bar Association and previously served as chair of the NC Professionalism Commission and the NC Equal Access to Justice Commission. He chaired the Commission on the Future of the North Carolina Business Court and led the effort to expand the business court.

Dean Martin’s advocacy for the rule of law has extended beyond the United States. He served on the Commission for the World Justice Project and was a two-time delegate to the World Justice Forum, the first-ever global convening to promote the multidisciplinary importance of the rule of law. Martin has served as an expert witness in the Queen’s Bench, Commercial Division in London, England.

Dean Martin’s lifetime of public service and devotion to the rule of law has been widely recognized. Martin has been inducted into the Warren Burger Society of the National Center for State Courts. He is a recipient of the Patriotic Employer Award of the United States Department of Defense. Martin received the ABA Robert Yegge Award for Outstanding Contribution in Judicial Administration, the Liberty Bell Award of the North Carolina Bar Association, and the Order of the Long Leaf Pine (the highest award given to a civilian in North Carolina). He is an honorary member of the American Counsel Association.

Martin has been married to Kym Martin for over 30 years, and together they have raised five children.

Tom Molony serves as a Professor of Law, and he teaches Property and leads High Point Law’s business and commercial law offerings.

Professor Molony’s extensive experience as a legal educator began in 2008. He has taught numerous courses at the intersection of business and law, including Accounting for Lawyers, Business Associations, Closely Held Business Enterprises, International Business, and Secured Transactions.

Prior to joining the academy, Professor Molony practiced law with the Charlotte firm of Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson. His practice focused on corporate and commercial law, public finance, and bankruptcy. Professor Molony is a certified public accountant, and before attending law school, he worked as a senior accountant with KPMG.

Professor Molony has been active in the North Carolina Bar Association, serving on the Section Council for the NCBA Business Law Section and on its Business Organizations Committee. He has published numerous articles in law reviews from around the country, as well as shorter works, including frequent contributions to the NCBA Business Law Section.

Professor Molony received his B.S. and J.D. degrees, both summa cum laude, from Washington and Lee University. He graduated Order of the Coif and served as the managing editor of the Washington and Lee Law Review.

Kip Nelson is an Associate Professor of Law and the Interim Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at High Point Law. Prior to his role at HPU Law, Professor Nelson had an active appellate practice for thirteen years at Fox Rothschild LLP, where he represented clients in state and federal appellate courts across the country on a broad array of matters, ranging from the unconstitutional conditions doctrine to land-use permits to waiver of child support. He also developed and taught a law school seminar course titled Children in the Law, which addressed the allocation of rights among children, parents, and the government.

Professor Nelson is certified by the North Carolina State Bar as an Appellate Practice Specialist. He is active in the American Bar Association and North Carolina Bar Association. He currently serves on the NCBA's Appellate Rules Committee and is a member of the Appellate Practice Section Council. Professor Nelson is also the Rules Committee Chair for the ABA’s Council of Appellate Lawyers.

Professor Nelson was selected to the Triad Business Journal’s 2022 list of 40 under 40 and was a member of the Leadership Greensboro Class of 2018. He is also an active contributor to the North Carolina Appellate Practice Blog. In his pro bono work, Professor Nelson takes part in the state's appellate guardian ad litem program—serving as appellate counsel on behalf of abused and neglected children.

Professor Nelson has published on several different topics, including the admissibility of battered child syndrome evidence, the scope of North Carolina’s unfair and deceptive practices statute, bifurcation of liability and damages, the role of the United States Sentencing Commission, the federal removal statutes, and the history of amicus briefs.

Professor Nelson graduated summa cum laude and first in his class from Duke University School of Law, where he served on the Moot Court Board and was an Articles Editor for the journal Law and Contemporary Problems. He then joined the inaugural class of Duke Law’s LL.M. program in Law and Entrepreneurship. Prior to obtaining his legal degrees, he received his B.S. in Psychology and a minor in Music, magna cum laude, from Brigham Young University.

Pete Nemerovski serves as Associate Professor of Law and High Point Law’s Director of Advocacy. In this role, he oversees the Legal Research and Writing curriculum for first-year students.

Professor Nemerovski began his law school teaching career in 2010 at the University of Miami School of Law and then transitioned in 2017 to teach at the University of North Carolina School of Law. Through his various roles at both institutions, he developed an expertise in innovative approaches to teaching legal writing. For instance, he is a leading thinker on the impact of generative AI on legal education and on teaching legal writing in particular.

Professor Nemerovski has also developed national connections through his involvement in two prominent legal writing organizations: the Association of Legal Writing Directors and the Legal Writing Institute.

Prior to joining the academy, Professor Nemerovski clerked for Judge Damon J. Keith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and then practiced civil litigation at two large law firms. He received his A.B. in politics, magna cum laude, from Princeton University and his J.D. cum laude from the University of Michigan.

Jay Shively serves as the Associate Dean of Admissions and Lecturer on Law at High Point Law. Shively has been working in law school admissions for over 23 years. Most recently, Jay worked with the Spivey Consulting Group advising aspiring law students and helping law schools refine their admission processes. Before that role, he served as the Assistant Dean for Admissions at three law schools: Wake Forest University School of Law, Penn State Law, and the University of North Carolina School of Law. Dean Shively earned his JD from the University of Houston Law Center and began his law school admissions career there. From 2004-2009, he also served as the Director of Law School Services at the Law School Admission Council (LSAC), where he worked with a team that developed, tested, and implemented databases and services utilized in every LSAC member law school. His efforts while at LSAC yielded important advances in the ability of schools to operate in a paperless environment and enhanced applicant services.

Associate Dean Shively has been a featured speaker at LSAC Annual Meetings, the LSAC Electronic Services Conference, the Pre-Law Advisors National Conference (PLANC), several regional prelaw advisor conferences, and the Association of American Law Schools (AALS). He has been interviewed, quoted, and consulted by numerous media outlets, including US News and World Report, Above the Law, the National Jurist, Prelaw Magazine, and The New York Times. His service to the profession has been extensive. He has served as chair of the AALS Section on Pre-Legal Education and Admission to Law School; and he has served on numerous LSAC governance committees, including the Committee for Services and Programs and the Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Professor Van Tassel serves as the Director of the Academic Support Porgram for HPU Law and Professor of Law. She teaches Torts, Health Law, and other elective courses. Formerly, she was a Professor at the Case Western University School of Law where she served as the Executive Director and Founder of the Graduate Programs in Compliance and Risk Management. Previously, she served as Dean and Professor of Law at the San Francisco Law School, the oldest law school in San Francisco.

Professor Van Tassel’s co-authored book Food and Drug Administration has been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court and by numerous federal district courts and courts of appeals; her research has been cited by judges on the supreme courts of New Mexico and Nevada on issues of first impression; and she has testified as an expert witness at hearings held by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights in Washington, D.C., as well as at hearings held before the Ohio Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. She is the Chair of the Food & Drug Law Committee of the Administrative Law Section of the American Bar Association and has served on the executive boards of the Law, Medicine, and Healthcare Section, the Law and Mental Disability Section, and the BioLaw Section of the Association of American Law Schools. She is the Editor of HealthLawProf Blog, has served as a blogger on Bill of Health, a blog of the Petrie-Flom Center at the Harvard School of Law, and as a blogger on BioLaw: Law and the Life Sciences. She also serves on the Board of Trustees of The Harvard Club of Northeast Ohio.

Professor Van Tassel has served as a Hearing Officer for medical staff peer review proceedings and is a consultant on matters involving the abuse and neglect of nursing home residents. She has served as a member of both the clinical ethics review team and the institutional review board for experimental drugs and devices of the largest hospital system in Western Massachusetts.

At the start of her career, Professor Van Tassel clerked for U.S. District Court Judge William K. Thomas before becoming an associate with the international law firm of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey (now Squire, Patton, Boggs). She has regularly taught Health Law, Healthcare Organization & Finance, Compliance & Risk Management, Bioethics, Public Health Law, Food, Drug & Biotech Law, Eldercare Law, Torts, Evidence, Civil Procedure, and Sales.

Alton Absher is a partner at Kilpatrick, a global law firm that serves as trusted counsel to the world’s most innovative companies. He has represented clients for more than 15 years in intellectual property disputes in Federal Court and before administrative agencies.

Before attending law school, Absher was a software engineer for Lowe’s Companies, Inc. At Lowe’s, he designed and developed software solutions for approximately 1,000 retail locations and gained extensive experience working with and customizing open-source software.

He is routinely elected as one of “The Best Lawyers in America®” in the practice areas of Intellectual Property Litigation and Patent Litigation. He also has been recognized as “Legal Elite” in Intellectual Property Law by Business North Carolina.

Absher received his J.D, cum laude, from Wake Forest University School of Law where he was elected to Order of the Coif and served as Managing Editor of the Wake Forest Law Review. He earned his B.S. in Computer Science from the University of North Carolina at Asheville.

The Honorable Frederick Bertand Admams, II is a District Court judge in Forsyth County, and he was officially sworn in on December 3, 2021. On November 8, 2022, Judge Adams was elected to serve another four-year term.

Prior to becoming a judge, Judge Adams began his legal career as an attorney with the firm of Womble, Carlyle, Sandridge, and Rice (now known as Womble Bond Dickinson, LLP). In November 2002, he left the Womble firm and accepted a position with Crumley & Associates (now known as CR Legal Team), which is now the largest consumer-based law firm in North Carolina. While at the Crumley firm, he worked in both the pre-litigation and litigation departments and represented countless people throughout the Triad who had been injured primarily in motor vehicle accidents.

After working for those two firms, Judge Adams then opened his own law firm, the Law Offices of Frederick B. Adams, P.C. in April 2005. As a solo practicioner, Judge Adams represented clients for various matters, primarily handling criminal, traffic, and personal injury cases. In addition to his work as an attorney, Judge Adams previously worked as an adjunct professor at Winston-Salem State University from the fall of 2011 until the spring of 2018.

In addition to the work he performs in his current position, Judge Adams also understands the importance of being involved in the community. Since graduating from Wake Forest, he has served as a mentor to students of all ages, particularly those students who are interested in pursuing a career in law. In addition to mentoring, Judge Adams has also served his community through various charitable organizations. He formerly served as a member of the boards of directors for Communities in Schools and Family Blueprints of North Carolina. Currently, Judge Adams serves as a member of the boards of directors for the North Carolina Black Repertory Company (the company responsible for producing the National Black Theater Festival), the Experiential School of Greensboro, and Team CP3. He is also an active member of United Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, where he attends with his wife, Dr. April Ruffin-Adams, and their two children, Frederick III and Avary.

Along with his work in the community, Judge Adams has also been a member of several professional organizations. He previously served as a member of the Forsyth County Bar Association’s Ethics and Grievance Committee and as a member of the Minorities in the Profession Committee of the North Carolina Bar Association. Judge Adams also is a former member of the Forsyth County Criminal Defense Trial Lawyers Association (serving as Vice President in 2017)

Currently, Judge Adams is a member of the Forsyth County Bar Association (most recently serving as President), the North Carolina Bar Association, the 31st Judicial District (currently serving as a member of the Executive Committee) and the Winston-Salem Bar Association where he has served in a variety of capacities, including serving proudly as President from 2010 – 2014.

Judge Adams is a native of Bluefield, Virginia. He attended Bluefield College, located in is hometown, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice in December 1996. After graduating from Bluefield College, he moved to Winston-Salem, North Carolina to pursue a law degree from the Wake Forest University School of Law and graduated with his Juris Doctorate degree in May 2000.

Curtis H. (“Trey”) Allen III is an associate justice on the Supreme Court of North Carolina. He began his legal career by serving as a judge advocate in the United States Marine Corps. His military service included a deployment to Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. After being honorably discharged, Trey returned to North Carolina and clerked for Justice (now Chief Justice) Paul Newby of the Supreme Court of North Carolina. He then practiced education law and became a partner at Tharrington Smith LLP in Raleigh. Trey left the firm to join the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Government (SOG). The SOG named him the Albert and Gladys Hall Coates Distinguished Term Associate Professor for 2020-2022. In January 2021 Trey took leave from the SOG to serve as General Counsel for the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts, providing legal guidance on criminal and civil matters to judges, clerks of court, and magistrates throughout the state. He continued in that role until taking his seat on the state’s highest court.

Trey graduated summa cum laude from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. He obtained his law degree from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a published staff member of the North Carolina Law Review.

David Atkinson is a shareholder and co-general counsel at Gunster, a law firm that specializes in serving business clients and has multiple offices throughout Florida. He has represented clients for over 25 years in a wide variety of business disputes in state and federal courts and arbitration. He also co-chairs the firm’s Professional Liability Defense group.

Atkinson has previously served on the Florida Bar Standing Committee on Professional Ethics and is a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America. He is also a former American Bar Association Fellow for the ABA’s National Legal Malpractice and Professional Liability and Litigation sections.

He is routinely elected as one of “The Best Lawyers in America®” in the practice areas of Commercial Litigation, Intellectual Property Litigation, Patent Litigation, and Real Estate Litigation. He also has been ranked among the “Top Layers” in Business Litigation by Palm Beach Illustrated and has been continuously recognized by Florida Super Lawyers.

Atkinson received his J.D, with honors, from the University of North Carolina School of Law and his B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

Hon. Scott Bales served on the Arizona Supreme Court for fourteen years—five of those years as Chief Justice. After retiring from the Court, he worked as the Executive Director of the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System (IAALS). Chief Justice Bales now consults on legal appeals and internal investigations, serves as a neutral, and serves on the Council of the American Law Institute and the Board of Trustees for the National Conference of Bar Examiners.

Before joining the Court, Chief Justice Bales practiced law in Arizona for nearly 20 years. He was a partner in Phoenix firms that later became Osborn Maledon and Lewis Roca. He also served as Arizona’s Solicitor General, where he handled major appeals, oversaw the enforcement of Arizona election laws, and supervised the preparation of legal opinions.

Prior to these positions, Chief Justice Bales was Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the U.S. Justice Department's Office of Policy Development, a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Phoenix, and Special Investigative Counsel for the Justice Department's Inspector General.

Chief Justice Bales previously chaired the Council of the ABA’s Section on Legal Education and the ABA’s Appellate Judges Conference and has often taught at law schools as an adjunct professor.

Chief Justice Bales received a J.D. and M.A. in Economics from Harvard and a B.A. in History from Michigan State University. He clerked for Ninth Circuit Judge Joseph T. Sneed III and went on to clerk for Justice Sandra Day O’Connor on the United States Supreme Court.

Hon. Phillip Berger Jr. is a sitting justice on the Supreme Court of North Carolina. There, he serves as the Court's liaison to the North Carolina Board of Law Examiners and the Governor's Crime Commission.

Prior to joining the Supreme Court, Justice Berger served as a judge on the North Carolina Court of Appeals and as an Administrative Law Judge with the North Carolina Office of Administrative Hearings. Before taking the bench, Justice Berger was in private practice for many years and was the elected District Attorney in Rockingham County, North Carolina. As District Attorney, he served as Chair of Project SAFE Rockingham County, a collaboration with the U.S. Attorney's Office and local law enforcement focused on reducing violent crime among recidivists and gang members. He then served as President of the North Carolina Conference of District Attorneys and represented the National District Attorneys Association as an observer to the United States v. Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, et al. hearings in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Justice Berger graduated from the Wake Forest University School of Law with a J.D. and the University of North Carolina-Wilmington with a B.A. in History.

Hon. Jeff Bivins is the Chief Justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court. As Chief Justice, he served on the Board of Directors of the Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ) and acted as Chair of the CCJ Government Affairs Committee.

Prior to his appointment to the Tennessee Supreme Court, Chief Justice Bivins served on the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals and was a Circuit Court Judge for the 21st Judicial District of Tennessee (covering Williamson, Hickman, Lewis, and Perry Counties). He served on the Board of Judicial Conduct, and its predecessor, the Court of the Judiciary. He was also appointed to the Tennessee Judicial Evaluation Commission and served as President of the Tennessee Judicial Conference.

Before his judgeships, Justice Bivins practiced law at Boult, Cummings, Conners & Berry PLC in Nashville, Tennessee. He also served as Assistant Commissioner and General Counsel for the Tennessee Department of Personnel.

Justice Bivins was a founding Board Member of the Education Foundation of Williamson County. He is a member of the Harry Phillips American Inn of Court, American Bar Association, and Tennessee Bar Association, and a former member of the Williamson County Commission. He is a Fellow of the Bar Foundation, the Tennessee Bar Foundation, and the Nashville Bar Foundation, and has served on the Tennessee Intercollegiate State Legislature board.

In recognition of all his services, Judge Bivens was granted the Tennessee Bar Association's "Justice Frank F. Drowota III Judicial Service Award."

Judge Bivens graduated with a J.D. from Vanderbilt University School of Law and a B.A., magna cum laude, from East Tennessee State University, majoring in political science and minoring in criminal justice. He is also graduate of Leadership Tennessee and has served as a law school extended faculty member.

Hon. Wanda G. Bryant is a former judge on the North Carolina Court of Appeals. Judge Bryant was appointed to her first term and subsequently elected to two more terms. She was also appointed as the first female Chairperson of the N.C. Judicial Standards Commission, a position she was continuously reappointed to until her retirement.

Prior to taking her judicial oath of office, Judge Bryant served as a Senior Deputy Attorney General in the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office. There, she led the newly created Citizens Rights Division, which oversaw the advocacy and protection of citizens’ interests in areas including victims' rights, child and elder abuse, hate crimes, open government, health care, and consumer protection.

Judge Bryant also served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Washington, D.C.—where she focused on prosecuting child and adult sexual assault cases—and was the first staff attorney for the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF). She began her legal career serving as the first female and first African American prosecutor in the 13th Prosecutorial District in eastern North Carolina.

Judge Bryant frequently speaks to audiences about legal, civic, and religious communities and has received many awards for her professional and community service. Notably, she was given the Order of the Long Leaf Pine from the N.C. Governor, the 6th Annual Legal Legends of Color Award from the N.C. Bar Association, the Gwyneth B. Davis Award from the N.C. Association of Women Attorneys, and the Friend of the Court Award.

Judge Bryant received her B.A. degree from Duke University and J.D. from North Carolina Central University.

John Bussian serves as the principal lawyer with his firm, the Bussian Law Firm, in Raleigh, North Carolina. Through his expertise in First Amendment law, he represents businesses operating in regulated and non-regulated environments, including websites, television stations, trade associations, and other communication enterprises.

Bussian serves as the First Amendment and Legislative Counsel for the North Carolina Press Association and Director of America’s Newspapers. He is a former member of the North Carolina Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Permissible Political Conduct and First Amendment Council of Advisors for the Media Institute.

Bussian has served as a visiting lecturer at Duke University School of Law, Duke’s Sanford School of Public Policy, and UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Journalism. He frequently speaks on issues affecting the industries he represents before meetings of state, regional, and national trade associations; and he has authored several publications on media law and related topics.

He received his A.B. from Duke University and J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.

Hon. Matthew R. Byrne currently sits on Ohio's Twelfth District Court of Appeal, where he hears civil and criminal appeals from trial courts in eight southwest Ohio counties—an area with a population of over 1.1 million. Judge Byrne also decides certain original actions authorized by state law to be filed in the court of appeals.

Judge Byrne is a member of the Ohio Court of Appeals Judges Association and the Ohio Judicial Conference. He has twice been appointed by the Chief Justice to serve as a visiting judge on the Supreme Court of Ohio and serves as a member of that Court’s Board of Commissioners on Character and Fitness.

Prior to taking the bench, Judge Byrne practiced law at the national law firm of Jackson Lewis P.C. for over a decade. He was a member of the General Employment Litigation Practice Group and the Wage and Hour Practice Group. He also practiced at Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP.

In his private practice, Judge Byrne represented clients ranging from small businesses to international corporations. He had cases in state and federal trial court, as well as appellate litigation, including multiple class and collective actions. Judge Byrne also represented clients in arbitration and before numerous administrative agencies, such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the National Labor Relations Board, and the Ohio Civil Rights Commission. Judge Byrne's litigation and administrative agency experience involved matters in fourteen states.

Judge Byrne earned his law degree, cum laude, from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. Judge Byrne also earned a B.A. in International Affairs (Business) and Political Science, magna cum laude, from Xavier University.

Before law school, Judge Byrne served as a member of the White House staff in the Office of Presidential Personnel. He was responsible for preparing recommendations for the selection and nomination of appointees for high-level federal positions and coordinating the presentation of appointments with various White House personnel.

Judge Byrne is active in several community and civic organizations, including the Federalist Society (serving as President of the Cincinnati Lawyers Chapter, the Ohio State Bar Association, and the county bar associations in Butler, Clermont, and Warren Counties). He is a previous member of the Advisory Board of Pregnancy Center East and a current Board Member of the St. Thomas More Lawyers Guild of Greater Cincinnati. Judge Byrne is also an active parishioner at his church.

Christie Speir Cameron Roeder served for twenty-five years as the Clerk of the Supreme Court of North Carolina. Prior to this role, Roeder was in private practice at the law firm of Wyrick, Robbins, Yates and Ponton, leading the Real Estate Department. Prior to her time in private practice, she had been appointed as the Assistant Appellate Division Reporter for the Supreme Court. Roeder was President of the National Conference of Appellate Court Clerks (NCACC), President of the Wake County and 10th Judicial District Bars, and a Counsel of State Governments’ Toll Fellow. She has received the NCACC's Sentell Award (its highest honor), the Court's Amicus Curiae Award, the North Carolina State Bar’s John B. McMillian Distinguished Service Award, and the Order of the Long Leaf Pine. Roeder has served as chair of the North Carolina Child Advocacy Institute, Triangle Transit Authority, Board of Directors of the North Carolina Museum of History Associates, and Parent's Panel of the North Carolina Task Force on Excellence in Secondary Education. She served as vice chair of the North Carolina Railroad. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the North Carolina Board of Corrections, the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Phi Beta Kappa Society of Wake County, Kid's Voting of Wake County, and several Legislative Study Commissions.

Roeder received her undergraduate and law degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. After graduating law school, she clerked for the Honorable John Webb at the North Carolina Court of Appeals.

Hon. Jeffery K. Carpenter is a judge on the North Carolina Court of Appeals. He also serves as the Chairperson of the North Carolina Judicial Standards Commission.

Prior to taking the appellate bench, Judge Carpenter was appointed to the superior court in Union County, won election to that office, and later became the Senior Resident Superior Court Judge.

Before entering public service, Judge Carpenter practiced law with Carpenter and Flake, PLLC. His litigation practice areas included criminal defense, domestic litigation, and general civil litigation.

Judge Carpenter received his J.D. from Campbell University School of Law, and before that, served the State of North Carolina as a state trooper for approximately six years. He received a B.A. in political science from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Hon. William C. Carpenter, Jr., recently retired from the Delaware Superior Court after nearly 30 years of service.

Before joining the Superior Court, Judge Carpenter was the U.S. Attorney for Delaware. He also served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney and worked in private practice.

Judge Carpenter was awarded the Delaware State Bar Association’s highest honor, the “First State Distinguished Service Award,” in recognition of the respect he has brought to the legal profession and the Delaware Bar. He has served as the Chair of both the National Conference of State Trial Judges and the ABA Judicial Division membership committee. Judge Carpenter is also on the Executive Committee of the ABA’s Sections Officers Conference and the Board of Directors for the Blood Bank of Delaware and American Red Cross. He is a longstanding member of the American Judicature Society and American Inns of Court.

Judge Carpenter received a B.A. in Economics from the University of Delaware and a J.D. from Widener University School of Law.

Hon. J. Michelle Childs is a sitting judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Prior to this role, she served on the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina.

Before joining the federal judiciary, Judge Childs was appointed by the South Carolina General Assembly as a South Carolina Circuit Court judge. During that time, she served as Chief Administrative Judge for the General Sessions, Judge on the South Carolina's criminal court, and Chief Administrative Judge for the State's business court.

Prior to taking the bench, Judge Childs was appointed to serve as the Deputy Director for the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation’s Division of Labor and later as a Commissioner on the South Carolina Workers' Compensation Commission. She also worked in private practice as a partner at Nexsen Pruet (now Maynard Nexton).

Judge Childs is the President-elect of the Federal Judges Association, former Chair of the American Bar Association’s Judicial Division, and former Secretary of the American Bar Association's Labor and Employment Law Section. She is a Fellow of two ABA committees: the Litigation Section and the Committee on the American Judicial System.

Judge Childs is also a member of the American Law Institute, having served as an Advisor to the Restatement (Third) of Employment Law. She is a Council Member of the American Bar Association's Administrative Law Section and a member of the 2022 Rodel Judicial Fellows.

Judge Childs received her undergraduate degree in Management from the University of South Florida Honors College and her law degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law. She also obtained a Masters in Personnel and Employment Relations from the University of South Carolina’s Darla Moore School of Business, a Masters of Judicial Studies from Duke University School of Law, and an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Public Service from the University of South Carolina.

Hon. Toni Clarke served as Associate Judge of the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County Maryland (Seventh Judicial Circuit) for over twenty years. She currently serves as Neutral and Arbitrator with The McCammon Group, serving in Maryland, the District of Columbia, and Virginia.

Prior to her appointment, Judge Clarke practiced law in both the public and private sectors. She was the first African American female to serve as State’s Attorney for Prince George’s County, Maryland, and in the entire State of Maryland.

Judge Clarke has held leadership positions in the American Bar Association, the National Bar Association, the National Association of Women Judges, the Maryland State Bar Association, and the J. Franklyn Bourne Bar Association. She is the only African American to serve as President of both the Women’s Bar Association of Maryland and the Prince George’s County Bar Association. She is also the Past-Chair of the National Conference of State Trial Judges of the ABA and served three consecutive terms on the Board of Trustees of the National Judicial College (with current designation: Emeritus Trustee).

Judge Clarke has received numerous awards, but a few of the most noteworthy include the Women’s Bar Association of Maryland’s Rita C. Davidson Award, the Maryland Daily Record Leadership in the Law Award, and the Maryland Daily Record’s Maryland’s Top 100 Women. She received her J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law and her B.S. from Pennsylvania State University.

Hon. Richard Clifton has been a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit for over twenty years. His chambers are in Honolulu, Hawaii.

After graduating from Princeton University (A.B.) and Yale Law School (J.D.), Judge Clifton moved to Hawaii to serve as a law clerk for Judge Herbert Y.C. Choy on the Ninth Circuit. After his clerkship, he remained in the islands and practiced law in Honolulu for 25 years until his judicial appointment.

Judge Clifton is President of the Federal Judges Association, the private organization to which most federal circuit and district judges belong, following several years serving as a Director and Officer of the Association. He was a member of the Judicial Conference Committee on Federal-State Jurisdiction for ten years. Four of these years he served as Chair, acting as a liaison between federal and state courts, and he regularly attended the Conference of Chief Justices meetings.

Judge Clifton is the Director of the American Judicature Society, the Ninth Judicial Circuit Historical Society, and the Hawaii Women's Legal Foundation. He is a member of the American Law Institute, the Ninth Circuit Pacific Islands Committee, and the Pacific Judicial Conference. For 24 years, he was a Director of Hawaii Public Radio, serving six years as its Chairman.

Judge Clifton has taught as an Adjunct Professor for over forty years and has been a Jurist in Residence at several law schools.

Hon. Carlton "J.C." Cole retired after more than 26 combined years of service on the North Carolina Superior Court and District Court, and he now serves as a Certified Mediator. On the Superior Court, his jurisdiction spanned the entire State of North Carolina, and his District Court jurisdiction spanned northeastern North Carolina. Judge Cole served as President of the Conference of North Carolina Superior Court Judges and the First Judicial District Bar. He has also served on the Chief Justice’s Professionalism Committee and the Governor’s Crime Commission. Prior to joining the Court, he was a sole practitioner operating a general practice. Judge Cole is the recipient of the Order of the Long Leaf Pine (the State of North Carolina’s highest civilian recognition) and the Friend of the Court Award (the N.C. Judicial Branch’s highest recognition). The North Carolina Parent-Teacher Association recognized his community service to local schools by granting him the Dorothy M. Crowell Citizenship Award. For the same appreciation of service, the North Carolina Association of Community Educators gave him the Robert L. Mason Distinguished Service Award.

The North Carolina Board of Commissioners in Perquimans County named its historic courtroom the "J. Carlton Cole Courtroom" in his honor.

Judge Cole earned his law degree from North Carolina Central University School of Law, master’s degree from Long Island University, and bachelor’s degree from Livingstone College. Before law school, he worked for ten years as a federal agent in New York City.

Hon. Allegra Collins is a sitting judge on the North Carolina Court of Appeals, having been elected statewide in 2018 to an eight-year term. Judge Collins is also an adjunct faculty member at various law schools where she teaches appellate advocacy and judicial writing. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Appellate Judges Education Institute and on the Executive Committee of the Appellate Judges Conference of the Judicial Division of the American Bar Association. Judge Collins is a member and the former Chair of the North Carolina Bar Association's Appellate Practice section and a member of its Appellate Rules Committee.

Prior to joining the bench, Judge Collins was a full-time law faculty member and a practicing appellate attorney representing clients before the North Carolina appellate courts and the United States Supreme Court. She is a former law clerk to the Honorable Judge Linda Stephens on the North Carolina Court of Appeals and former Assistant Appellate Reporter at the Supreme Court of North Carolina.

She was also a former world-class athlete. She represented the United States in two Pan American Games as a member of the United States women’s national team handball team and played team handball professionally in Europe. Before her team handball career, she was a professional tennis player, a full-scholarship athlete at the College of William and Mary and UCLA, and a member of UCLA’s NCAA finalist and semi-finalist women’s tennis teams.

She earned her LL.M. in Judicial Studies from Duke University, her J.D. from Campbell University, and her B.A. from the College of William and Mary.

Hon. Lora C. Cubbage has served as a Resident Superior Court Judge in Guilford County, North Carolina, since 2016.

Judge Cubbage also works as a part-time faculty at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in the criminal justice department. Prior to taking the bench, she served as an Assistant Attorney General for the North Carolina Attorney General’s office and as Assistant District Attorney for Guilford County. As an Assistant Attorney General, her work focused on criminal appeals and workers’ compensation cases.

Judge Cubbage is actively engaged in the Greensboro Bar Association, North Carolina Bar Association, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, and The Links, Incorporated. She has served on several boards, including the Board of Visitors for N.C. A&T State University, Piedmont Capital Funding, and Family Services of the Piedmont.

She received her B.S. in sociology from N.C. A&T summa cum laude and her J.D. from the University of North Carolina School of Law.

Hon. James C. Dever III serves as a United States District Judge for the Eastern District of North Carolina. Judge Dever served as Chief Judge for seven years and currently chairs the U.S. Courts Advisory Committee on Criminal Rules. Judge Dever has also served as a law school Adjunct Professor and Senior Lecturing Fellow for over two decades, lecturing on employment law, criminal procedure, and sentencing and punishment.

Judge Dever received his J.D., with high honors, from Duke University School of Law. At Duke, he was editor-in-chief of the Duke Law Journal, elected to the Order of the Coif, and received numerous academic awards. For his undergraduate studies, Judge Dever received a B.B.A., with high honors, from the University of Notre Dame, attending school on a four-year ROTC scholarship.

After graduating from law school, Judge Dever clerked for Judge J. Clifford Wallace of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Following his clerkship, he was the sole attorney entering active duty in the Air Force selected to serve in the Air Force General Counsel's Honors Program at the Pentagon. Judge Dever served on active duty for four years before returning to North Carolina and entering private practice in Raleigh.

Hon. Albert Diaz is the Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He has served as a judge on that Court since 2010.

Judge Diaz’s prior judicial work includes serving on the state trial bench in North Carolina and the Navy–Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals. Notably, he is the first person of Hispanic heritage ever to be a state judge in North Carolina. Before taking the bench, Judge Diaz served as a prosecutor and worked in private practice for Hunton & Williams.

Judge Diaz holds a B.A. in economics from the University of Pennsylvania and graduate degrees from New York University (J.D.) and Boston University (M.S.). He served in the United States Marines and is a native of Brooklyn, New York.

Hon. Robert Christopher “Chris” Dillon is the Chief Judge of the North Carolina Court of Appeals and is currently serving his second term on that Court. He was appointed Chief Judge in 2024, and he is the former Chair of the North Carolina Judicial Standards Commission.

Prior to being elected to the bench, Judge Dillon was in private practice, representing a number of small business owners, professionals, and a state occupational licensing board. In addition to practicing law, he served as Senior Vice President at a Raleigh community bank, focusing on commercial real estate and small business lending. He has been licensed as a broker by the North Carolina Real Estate Commission for over 25 years.

Judge Dillon has served on several civic boards and committees, including DHIC, Inc. (formerly Downtown Housing Improvement Corporation), the North Carolina Bar Association, and the Friends of the NC Museum of Natural Sciences. He has taught youth Sunday School for over three decades and has been an Adjunct Professor at multiple law schools, teaching a real estate course.

Judge Dillon is a “Double Tar Heel,” having earned his B.S. in Business Administration and his law degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He also holds an LL.M. degree from Duke University School of Law.

Hon. Bernice Donald is a former judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. She currently serves as an arbitrator, mediator and special master for FedArb, a nationwide ADR firm that includes the largest roster of former Article III judges in the country.

Before her appellate judgeship, Judge Donald sat on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee and served as Judge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Tennessee—making history as the first African American woman in the United States to serve as a bankruptcy judge. Prior to these roles, she served as an elected judge in the General Sessions Criminal Court, where she became the first African American woman to serve as a judge in Tennessee.

Judge Donald served on the Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Rules, an appointment by the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. She is the former President of the National Association of Women Judges and the Association of Women Attorneys, and she chaired the Memphis Diversity Institute and the Commission on Opportunities for Minorities in the legal profession. She also served as the Secretary for the American Bar Association.

Judge Donald has been the recipient of over 100 awards for professional, civic, and community activities, including the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Memphis, the Martin Luther King Community Service Award, and the Benjamin Hooks Award. She received the inaugural Justice Sandra Day O’Connor Award in November 2022 from the National Judicial College. She also co-founded the organization "4-Life," a skills training and enrichment program designed to teach children to become positive, productive citizens.

Judge Donald has served as an adjunct professor and as faculty for numerous law schools and international programs. She received her law degree from the University of Memphis School of Law.

Carolyn A. Dubay is the Deputy Judicial Integrity Officer at the Office of Judicial Integrity (OJI) of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts. The OJI serves as a resource for federal judges and judiciary employees across the United States, providing advice and training on codes of conduct, disciplinary issues, and dispute resolution processes relating to the judicial workplace. The OJI supports the Federal Judiciary's workplace policy development and initiatives, responses to governmental and public inquiries, and law school outreach.

Prior to joining the OJI, Dubay served for over six years as the Executive Director of the North Carolina Judicial Standards Commission—the State's judicial disciplinary and ethics advisory agency—and served on the board of the national Association of Judicial Disciplinary Counsel. She continues to be an active member of the ABA Judicial Division, serving as Chair of the Law Clerk Code of Conduct Working Group and participating as a member of the Ethics and Professionalism Committee. Dubay is a past Chair of the Lawyers Conference of the Judicial Division and past Programs Chair of the Judicial Division. She has also worked in the federal court system, in private practice, and as a law professor, teaching Constitutional Law, First Amendment, Comparative Constitutional Law, and Judicial Policy.

Dubay's federal judicial service includes two years as a law clerk for the Honorable Joanna Seybert in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. She later worked as an attorney-advisor at the Administrative Office and a senior researcher at the Federal Judicial Center. Dubay also served as a Supreme Court Fellow in the Office of the Counselor to the Chief Justice of the United States. Before working directly in judicial administration, she practiced law as a civil litigator in North Carolina and Virginia with Hunton & Williams.

Dubay received an L.L.M., with distinction, from Georgetown University Law Center; a J.D. from Fordham University School of Law, where she served as an editor of the Fordham Law Review and graduated with honors; and an undergraduate degree in History from Duke University.

Hon. Wilton Russell "Rusty" Duke, Jr. served as the Senior Resident Superior Court Judge of Pitt County, North Carolina for over 25 years. He also served as a Resident Superior Court Judge and District Court Judge. Prior to being elected as a judge, he practiced law as a general practitioner for 12 years.

Judge Duke is currently Of Counsel for White & Allen, P.A., which maintains offices in Greenville, Kinston, New Bern, Morehead City, and Snow Hill, North Carolina. He engages in a broad criminal and civil litigation practice.

Judge Duke is a member of the Senior Division of the North Carolina Bar Association, past Vice President of the North Carolina Superior Court Judges Conference, and a former member of the Continuing Judicial Education Committee of the Judges Conference. He is also a former member of the Advisory Budget Committee of the Administrative Office of the Courts and a former member of the United States Fourth Circuit Judicial Conference.

Judge Duke is a former Trustee of Meredith College and a former Committee Member of Young Life of Greenville Pitt County. He is currently a member of the Greenville Rotary Club and the East Carolina Council of Scouting America. He also served as the Mayor of the Town of Farmville, located in Pitt County, North Carolina.

Judge Duke earned his undergraduate degree in History from Wake Forest University and his law degree from Wake Forest University School of Law. He served as a law clerk to the Honorable John D. Larkins, Jr., United States District Court Judge for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

Hon. Stuart Kyle Duncan currently serves as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Before taking the bench, he was a Founding Partner at Schaerr Duncan LLP in Washington, D.C. Judge Duncan also served as Appellate Chief for Louisiana's Attorney General's office, as General Counsel of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, and as a law professor at multiple law schools.

Judge Duncan received his LL.M. from Columbia Law School, J.D. from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at Louisiana State University, and B.A. from Louisiana State University. After graduating from law school, he clerked for Louisiana-based Judge John Malcolm Duhé Jr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Randall (Randy) M. Ebner is former vice president and general counsel of Exxon Mobil Corporation.

Ebner joined Exxon in 1980 after graduating from Tulane University Law School. He progressed through a number of assignments in the law department including litigation, transaction, and management positions. From l999-2000, he was a member of the law team supporting the Exxon and Mobil merger. Thereafter he held management positions in the Chemical and Gas and Power Marketing Companies. In 2009, he became assistant general counsel for corporate law and in 2013, became assistant general counsel for compliance and corporate law. Ebner was named vice president and general counsel in 2016 and retired in 2020 having reached ExxonMobil 's normal retirement age.

He is, and, has over the years been, actively involved with many legal professional organizations, including the board of directors for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for Legal Reform. His work has focused on improvement of both the proper operation and fairness of the United States legal system. He has served as a member of the board of directors of the National Center For State Courts. For the Center, he continues to serve as co-chair of the General Counsel committee. He also has served on the Civil Justice Reform Group's steering committee. Ebner now chairs the board of trustees of the Center for American and International Law (CAIL). Through his long service with this organization, he has encouraged continued efforts to improve policing and policing procedures, as the Center houses one of the leading police training and policy institutes in the Nation. The Center also houses institutes on the cutting edge of issues affecting transnational arbitration, energy law, technology, and criminal justice. CAIL also has a decades-old Institute for International and Comparative Law, educating professionals from many other countries on the principles of American law. Many of the graduates of this program have gone on to be leaders in their countries.

Ebner has served on the National Judicial College's board of visitors, Southern Methodist University's Corporate Counsel Symposium board of advisors, and Southern Methodist University's Robert B. Rowling Center for Business Law & Leadership board of advisors. He is also a member of the Tulane Law School's Dean's advisory board and a founding member and chair of the board of advisors of the Tulane Center for Energy Law. Ebner serves as a member of the Committee on Legal Education and Admissions Reform co-sponsored by the Conference of Chief Justices and the Conference of State Court Administrators. He serves as a mentor for Baker & McKenzie's Executive Institute for Legal Leaders.

In 2019, Chambers and Partners recognized Ebner as a General Counsel Influencer for his impact on the worldwide legal community. In November 2019, he received the Texas General Counsel Forum's Magna Stella Award for in-house counsel leadership. ln 2022, Ebner presented the Institute for Energy Law's Deans of Oil & Gas Practice Lecture. In 2023, Ebner was inducted into the National Center for State Courts Warren E. Burger Society.

Born in New Jersey, Ebner holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. Tulane Law School has named Ebner as a Distinguished Research Fellow.

Hon. Dr. Julee Tate Flood currently sits as a judge on the North Carolina Court of Appeals. She also serves as the Vice Chairperson of the North Carolina Judicial Standards Commission.

Prior to being elected judge, she served in the offices of nine appellate jurists, both federal and state. With over 20 years of appellate experience, she has drafted and authored hundreds of judicial opinions spanning a wide variety of issues.

In addition to public service, Judge Flood has been a business owner and in-house counsel, as well as senior advisory counsel to a nonprofit organization, addressing diverse legal, business, and human resource issues. Judge Flood has published articles in law and education journals, and she has co-authored a book on risk management in higher education faculty hiring.

Judge Flood has taught as an Adjunct Professor and full-time Professor in both law and education programs. She earned her Ph.D., focusing on higher education law and policy, from the University of Tennessee; J.D. from the University New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law; M.P.A. from the University of Maine; and B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of Florida.

C. Allen Foster has been recognized as a preeminent trial lawyer for over 50 years, having tried high-profile cases in 15 states at numerous federal courts and virtually all national and international arbitration venues. He has served as the United States Government Representative to the International Agency Dispute Resolution Centre in Paris, Special Litigation Counsel to the Republican Party, and Commissioner to the National Commission on Uniform State Laws. He has received several recognitions for his work in litigation from The Best Lawyers in America and Washington, D.C. Super Lawyers.

Foster served as a Senior Lecturer in Law at Duke Law School for ten years—teaching trial practice, commercial arbitration, and construction law—and is the author of Construction and Design Law in the United States, a construction law treatise. He has been a member of the American Law Institute for over 25 years, working on revisions to the Restatements of the Law of Suretyship, Torts, and the Law Governing Lawyers, as well as the Model Penal Code. He was a Presidential Elector for North Carolina in 1984 and received the Order of the Long Leaf Pine for public service in North Carolina. He is also active in numerous national and international charitable organizations.

Foster received his J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School. He was a Fulbright scholar at Oxford University (Brasenose College), receiving a First Class Honors Degree (B.A.) in Jurisprudence and an M.A. In his undergraduate studies, he graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. from Princeton University.

Michael S. Fox is a Director at Tuggle Duggins in Greensboro, North Carolina. He practices business litigation, real estate litigation, government affairs, and zoning and land use. He regularly appears before state and federal courts and has tried numerous cases to a jury verdict.

In March 2017, Fox was appointed as Chairman of the North Carolina Board of Transportation, which oversees roughly 10,000 employees and operates an annual budget exceeding five-billion dollars. He has been listed in Best Lawyers in America in the areas of Land Use and Zoning--Litigation Law since 2007.

Fox received his J.D. from the University of North Carolina School of Law and his B.A. from Appalachian State University.

Hon. Andrew W. Gould is a former Justice on the Arizona Supreme Court. Justice Gould served on the Arizona Supreme Court Commission on Technology, as the President of the Arizona Judges' Association, and as a lecturer at the Judicial Conference and New Judge Orientations.

Prior to serving on the Supreme Court, Justice Gould served as a Judge on Division One of the Arizona Court of Appeals and a Judge of the Superior Court in Yuma County (Arizona). Throughout his judicial career, Justice Gould authored over four hundred opinions.

Before taking the bench, Justice Gould served as Chief Civil Deputy for the Yuma County Attorney's Office and was in private practice, working in commercial litigation and complex torts. He has also served as an Adjunct Professor for multiple law schools.

Gould received his J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law and his undergraduate degree from the University of Montana.

Mike Grace has been engaged in private practice specializing in criminal defense for more than 30 years. His firm—Grace, Tisdale & Clifton in Winston-Salem, North Carolina—is one of two local firms that represent local law enforcement through the Police Benevolent Association.

Prior to his work as a defense attorney, Grace worked as a congressional staff attorney and served as Special Assistant to the Attorney General in the United States Department of Justice.

Grace is admitted to practice in North Carolina; the United States District Court, Middle, Eastern, and Western Districts of North Carolina; and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He also has served as a law school Adjunct Professor.

Grace received his J.D. from Wake Forest University School of Law and his B.A. in History from the University of North Carolina at Asheville.

Thomas C. Grella practices law at McGuire Wood & Bissette in Asheville, North Carolina. He has an extensive background in real estate and commercial transactions.

Grella is a frequent writer and speaker on topics regarding the business of law practice. He authored Lessons in Leadership: Essential Skills for Lawyers and co-authored The Lawyer's Guide to Strategic Planning; both books are publications of the ABA Law Practice Division. He also currently authors the Managing Column in the Division's bi-monthly Law Practice magazine. He has chaired the ABA Law Practice Division, was a member of the ABA Journal editorial board, and presently serves on the ABA Board of Governors.

Grella was a recipient of the Sam Smith Award, presented annually by the ABA Law Practice Division, and the 2017 Robert P. Wilkins Award, for his outstanding achievement with Law Practice magazine. He is a Fellow and Board of Trustees Member for the College of Law Practice Management, a Fellow of the National Institute for the Teaching of Ethics and Professionalism, and a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.

Grella received his J.D. from Wake Forest University School of Law and his B.B.A. from James Madison University.

Hon. Robinson “Robby” Hassell is an Emergency Superior Court Judge in Greensboro, North Carolina, and a certified mediator. He also serves as the Regional Judicial Outreach Liaison for the ABA Judicial Division. He has previously served as a commissioner on the North Carolina Industrial Commission and as a North Carolina district and superior court judge.

Judge Hassell has been active in professional service. He has served on the National Conferences of State Trial and Specialized Court Judges Executive Commission of the ABA Judicial Division. He has also served on the North Carolina Commission on the Administration of Law and Justice, the North Carolina Equal Access to Justice Commission, and the North Carolina Judicial Council Commission on Alternative Dispute Resolution.

Hassell was a North Carolina Bar Association Citizen Lawyers Honoree in 2021. His extensive community service includes service on the City of Greensboro Bicentennial Commission, the Tanger Center for the Performing Arts Task Force, the Gate City Rotary Club Board of Directors, the Greensboro History Musuem Board of Trustees, the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra Board of Directors and Endowment Fund, and the Downtown Greenway Oversight Executive Committee.

Hassell received his bachelor’s degree in political science and economics and his J.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Hon. Nathan L. Hecht was the 27th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas. Chief Justice Hecht was elected to the Court seven times, making him the longest-serving member of the Court in Texas history.

Chief Justice Hecht has overseen revisions to the rules of administration, practice, and procedure in Texas courts. He was appointed by the Chief Justice of the United States to the federal Advisory Committee on Civil Rules. He is also active in the efforts of the Supreme Court of Texas to ensure that Texans living below the poverty level and others with limited means have access to basic civil legal services.

Before serving on the Supreme Court, Chief Justice Hecht was elected to the Texas Court of Appeals and appointed to the District Court. Before taking the bench, he was a partner at the Locke firm in Dallas, Texas.

Chief Justice Hecht is a past president of the Conference of Chief Justices, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Life Member of the American Law Institute, and a member of the Texas Philosophical Society.

Chief Justice Hecht holds a B.A. degree in philosophy from Yale University, with honors, and a J.D. degree cum laude from Southern Methodist University School of Law, where he was a Hatton W. Sumners Scholar. He clerked for Judge Roger Robb on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and was a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy Reserve Judge Advocate General Corps.

James A. Heilpern is Chairman of the Board and President of the Judicial Education Institute, a 501(c)(3) organization that provides high-quality continuing education courses to judges nationwide. In the words of one prominent jurist, he is the “nation’s leading authority on training judges in corpus linguistics,” having provided judicial education courses to judges on ten of the twelve U.S. Courts of Appeal and dozens of federal district and state supreme courts.

He also serves as Counsel at Schaerr-Jaffe, a Supreme Court litigation boutique based in Washington, D.C. where he regularly represents clients at all three levels of the federal judiciary, as well as in state courts. He was part of the legal team that represented Georgia in Texas v. Pennsylvania, et. al., successfully persuading the Supreme Court to dismiss Texas’ last-ditch effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

He is a Research Fellow at the Georgetown Center for the Constitution and previously served as Senior Fellow at the BYU Law School, where he helped direct the school’s Law & Corpus Linguistics Project. He previously served as a law clerk to the Honorable Edith Clement on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the Honorable Robert H. Cleland of the U.S.District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

Hon. Gary E. Hicks retired in 2023 as the Senior Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of New Hampshire. He was the 104th Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court. Before moving to this Court in 2006, he served four years on the New Hampshire Superior Court.

Prior to taking the bench, Justice Hicks was a commercial litigator for 23 years with Wiggin & Nourie, one of New Hampshire’s largest law firms. He also maintained an active mediation and arbitration practice.

Justice Hicks is the president of the Daniel Webster Batchelder Inns of Court, the first chartered Inn of Court in New Hampshire. He is the former chair of the American Inns of Court Leadership Council and the American Inns Nomination Committee. He is also a former member of the board of trustees of the American Inns of Court.

Justice Hicks is a past chairman of the New Hampshire Judicial Council; a former member of the New Hampshire Bar Association Ethics Committee; and a current member of the Advisory Board of the St. Paul’s School Advance Studies Program in Concord, New Hampshire. He is actively recruiting private and public school students from diverse and multicultural backgrounds to consider a career in the legal profession in New Hampshire.

Justice Hicks received the Manchester Bar Association’s “Distinguished Service Award” in recognition of his outstanding personal achievements and contributions to the bar. He has received both the New Hampshire Bar President’s Award (for distinguished and compassionate service) and the Philip S. Hollman Gender Equality Award presented by the Bar’s Gender Equality Committee. A former chairperson of the Board of the New Hampshire Institute of Art, Justice Hicks was bestowed with an honorary Bachelor of Fine Arts. Justice Hicks is also an honorary member of the International Society of Barristers.

Justice Hicks graduated from Boston University School of Law, where he was managing editor of the Law Review, and Bucknell University with a degree in Mathematics. He is co-editor of the New Hampshire Discovery Practice manual published in April 2011 by Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education (MCLE).

Hon. Robert J. “Bob” Humphrey retired in 2023 after serving three consecutive terms as a judge on the Virginia Court of Appeals. In his time at the court, Judge Humphreys was appointed by the Governor of Virginia as a Special Master to oversee a review of the procedures used in DNA analyses conducted by the Virginia Department of Forensic Science. He also served as a member of the Advisory Committee on Training in Science and the Law of the National Commission on Forensic Science. Most recently, he chaired the Virginia State Bar’s working group that recommended the sweeping changes to Virginia’s criminal discovery rules adopted by the Virginia Supreme Court.

Before taking the bench, Judge Humphreys served as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Delaware; Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney in Norfolk, Virginia; Chief Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney in Virginia Beach; and Special Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. He was elected Commonwealth’s Attorney of Virginia Beach and served in that capacity until his election to the Court of Appeals by the Virginia General Assembly.

Judge Humphreys is a past president of the Virginia Association of Commonwealth’s Attorneys and past Chairman of the Commonwealth’s Attorneys Services Council. He received the Robert F. Horan Award for Outstanding Service to Virginia prosecutors from the Virginia Association of Commonwealth’s Attorneys.

Judge Humphreys has lectured extensively throughout the country on trial practice, appellate practice, and professional ethics. He is also a longtime faculty member of the Ernest F. Hollings, Jr. National Advocacy Center and the National College of District Attorneys; and he is a recipient of that organization’s Stephen Von Reisen Lecturer of Merit Award.

Judge Humphreys has served as a law school Senior Lecturing Fellow and Adjunct Professor for over two decades and has been on several presidential, legislative, and gubernatorial commissions, including the Global Criminal Justice Information Network, Virginia’s Parole Abolition and Sentencing Reform Commission, Virginia State Crime Commission; and the Writ of Actual Innocence study commission.

Judge Humphreys received his law degree from Widener University Law School and undergraduate degree from Washington & Lee University.

Hon. Robert N. “Bob” Hunter, Jr. is a former member of the North Carolina Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of North Carolina. He currently practices with Higgins, Benjamin PLLC in Greensboro, North Carolina. His practice areas include appeals, civil and commercial litigation, mediation and arbitration, election law, and wills and estates.

Justice Hunter has been licensed to practice law for nearly 50 years, and in that time, has served as an Adjunct Professor at numerous law schools, teaching Election Law and Appellate Advocacy. He received the McNeill Smith Constitutional Rights and Responsibilities Section Award and the Outstanding Appellate Judge of the Year from the North Carolina Advocates for Justice.

Justice Hunter received his B.A and J.D. degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his L.L.M degree from Duke University.

Hon. Barbara Jackson is a retired Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina. She also served as an Associate Judge on the North Carolina Court of Appeals for six years.

Prior to elected office, Justice Jackson practiced law for fourteen years. Her practice included serving as General Counsel to the Commissioner of the North Carolina Department of Labor; working in the Governor's office for an advocacy agency for persons with disabilities; and working in private practice, concentrating on land use and local government law.

Justice Jackson received both her undergraduate and law degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she was a Thomas J. Watson National Merit Scholar, served on the staff of the Law Review, and was president of Phi Delta Phi. She also received an LL.M. in Judicial Studies from Duke University School of Law. Twenty years prior to being on the Supreme Court, Justice Jackson began her career as a law clerk on that very Court for Justice Burley B. Mitchell, Jr.

Justice Jackson was appointed as one of five co-chairs of a North Carolina Commission on the Administration of Law and Justice, charged with focusing on technology and the courts. She currently serves as Chair of the North Carolina Bar Association Appellate Rules Committee and is a member of the North Carolina Rules Review Commission.

Justice Jackson is a former member of the Appellate Judges Conference of the ABA and served as State Chair for North Carolina. She is a past member of the Board of Governors and Section Chair of the North Carolina Bar Association. Today, she remains active in other sections and committees. Justice Jackson also previously served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Wake County Bar Association, and she is a past member of both the North Carolina Courts Commission and the Dispute Resolution Commission.

Hon. Tassaduq Hussain Jillani is the former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. Justice Jillani also served as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court and a Judge of the Lahore High Court in Pakistan.

Justice Jillani authored judgments on various issues of domestic and international concern, including enforcement of fundamental rights, gender equality, the right of an adult woman to marry a person of her choice in Islam, the right to education as a fundamental right, permission of dual nationality, and guidelines for qualitative improvement in legal and medical education.

Before taking the bench, Justice Jillani was the Advocate General Punjab (preceded by serving as Advocate General and Assistant Advocate General Punjab). During his law practice, he also held various elected offices (e.g., Secretary General of the District Bar Association Multan and Member of the Punjab Bar Council) and started his legal career working for the Districts Courts Multan.

Justice Jillani received the American Bar Association (ABA) Rule of Law Award and International Human Rights Award. He was conferred an “Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters” at Southern Virginia University, Washington; was a Fellow at the Centre on Global Transformation at the University of California San Diego; and was awarded the “Key of the City” by the Mayor of Detroit, Michigan. He was also appointed as a member of the Hague International Judicial Network and a Co-Chair of the Working Party on Mediation in Family International Law.

Justice Jillani received his LL.B. from the University of Punjab, Lahore; Masters in Political Science from Forman Christians College, Lahore; and completed a course in Constitutional Law from the University of London at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies. His poem “Justice for All” was sung at the 50th Anniversary of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and has been declared the Judicial Anthem of Pakistan.

Mark Jones serves as Head of Litigation at Nelson, Mullins, Riley & Scarborough LLP, a national firm with over 900 lawyers across 31 offices nationwide.

Jones oversees more than 500 attorneys who focus on product liability, toxic torts, business, technology, employment, construction, environmental, and other litigation. Jones’ practice includes pharmaceutical, consumer, and mechanical products, and commercial and technology litigation. Jones has over 33 years of experience in litigation and has been recognized for his practice in the Best Lawyers in America, the Legal 500, and the International Who’s Who in Product Liability Defense Lawyers.

Jones received his J.D and his B.A. in History and English from the University of South Carolina, where he served as Articles Editor of the Law Review. Following law school, Jones served as law clerk to the Honorable Clyde H. Hamilton, United States District Judge for the District of South Carolina.

Jason Kaune is a senior partner in the San Francisco office of Nielsen Merksamer, where he specializes in elections, government ethics, lobbying disclosure, conflicts of interest, and campaign finance laws of federal, state, and local governments. He also teaches a graduate level course at the Yale School of Management on “Political Ethics and Issues for Organizations.”

Kaune serves as general counsel and treasurer to a broad range of political action committees, non-profit organizations, advocacy groups, social welfare organizations, independent expenditure committees, professional associations, and ballot measures. He also represents major donors and government entities on sensitive matters of legal compliance, election controversies, and policy. Kaune has worked in the private and non-profit sectors, as a speechwriter, on a presidential campaign, and as an extern for a U.S. Federal District Court Judge and for the California Law Revision Commission.

Kaune is the current chair of the ABA Standing Committee on Election Law. He co-chairs the Practicing Law Institute’s annual conference in Washington, D.C. on Corporate Political Activities and has served on its faculty since 2000. He is a member of the Council on Government Ethics Laws, for which he co-authors an annual campaign finance litigation review, the Federalist Society, and the Association of Practical and Professional Ethics, among other organizations.

He received his B.A., cum laude and with distinction, from Yale University, his M.P.P. from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, and his J.D. from the University of California Hastings College of the Law.

Linda A. Klein is a Shareholder at Baker Donelson in Atlanta, Georgia. Her practice includes business dispute prevention and resolution, internal investigations, contract law, professional liability, and risk and crisis management. She has worked extensively with clients in construction, higher education (e.g., medical and law schools), and automotive industries.

Klein is the first woman to serve as president of the State Bar of Georgia, and she is past president of the American Bar Association. She previously served as Chair for various ABA bodies, including the ABA’s House of Delegates, Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section, Committee on Rules and Calendar of the House of Delegates, Coalition for Justice, and ABA Day (the ABA’s Congressional outreach effort). Klein was a member of the Council of the ABA Section of International Law, and she also served as a columnist and on the Board of Editors of the ABA’s Law Practice Management (now Law Practice) magazine. In recognition of all her service, the ABA awarded her the Margaret Brent Achievement Award.

Klein is listed in The Best Lawyers in America®, Who's Who in America, and Chambers USA. Best Lawyers in America® recently recognized Klein as Atlanta's "Lawyer of the Year" in Arbitration. She is regularly named to the Super Lawyers top 100 lawyers in Georgia and one of the top 50 female lawyers in Georgia. Daily Report has chosen her in the past as "Attorney of the Year.”

Klein has received three honorary law degrees. She has delivered commencement addresses at Atlanta's John Marshall College of Law, Georgia State University College of Law, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, Pepperdine University School of Law, and Washington and Lee University School of Law. She was honored with the Randolph Thrower Award for Lifetime Achievement and was named to the YWCA Academy of Women Achievers.

Klein serves on The Carter Center Board of Councilors and on the Boards of Directors of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, the Presidential Precinct, the Executive Committee of the Buckhead Coalition, and the Advisory Board of Super Lawyers.

Klein is a past President of Southface Energy Institute, the Board of Directors’ Network, and the Caucus of State Bars, and past Chair of both the Institute for Continuing Legal Education in Georgia and the Lawyers Foundation of Georgia. She also served a six-year term on Baker Donelson's Board of Directors.

Klein has authored numerous published works. She is a member of the American Law Institute and acts as a mediator and arbitrator, frequently serving as a neutral as well as a client advocate. She is a member of the American College of Construction Lawyers. Klein received her J.D. from Washington & Lee University and B.A., cum laude, from Union College.

Frank C. Laney was Circuit Mediator for 25 years for the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. In that role, he mediated more than 5000 cases before retiring in April 2022. He is certified as a Superior Court, Family Financial, District Criminal Court, and Clerk Programs mediator by the North Carolina Dispute Resolution Commission and certified as a practitioner member of the Academy of Family Mediators.

For eight years, Laney taught mediation in Belarus, one semester of which as a visiting Fulbright Specialist. More recently, he taught mediators in Ukraine, Russia, and Kazakhstan.

Laney is the past Chair of the ADR Committee of the North Carolina State Judicial Council, former Mediation Coordinator for the North Carolina Industrial Commission, and serves as Commissioner of the North Carolina Dispute Resolution Commission. He teaches the later Commission’s required training for mediator certification with Carolina Dispute Settlement Services (CDSS).

Laney has been a member of the North Carolina Bar Association Dispute Resolution Committee/Section since its inception and is a past Section Chair. He chaired the joint Section-Commission committee responsible for the updating and rewriting of Alternative Dispute Resolution in North Carolina, A New Civil Procedure (2012), and he served as an author and co-editor of the book. For his contribution, the Section presented him with the Peace Award.

Laney was a consultant with the North Carolina Bar Association's Mediated Settlement Conference and District Court Arbitration Pilot Programs. He helped lead the committee that developed the Family Financial Settlement and Clerk Mediation Programs and the committee that crafted the Standards of Professional Conduct for Mediators.

Laney graduated from North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina School of Law. He serves as an Adjunct Professor at numerous law schools, works with a Boy Scout troop, and assists the vestry of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Cary, North Carolina. He is also Past President of the Green Hope Band Boosters, and most years, sings with the North Carolina Master Chorale—which yearly performs with the North Carolina Symphony.

Hon. Elizabeth "Liz" Lang-Miers is a former Justice on the Court of Appeals for the 5th District of Texas at Dallas. In her fifteen years on the bench, she authored more than 1,800 opinions and was appointed Chair of the five-member State of Texas Multi-District Litigation Panel.

Justice Lang-Miers is now a partner at Locke Lord LLP, where she works with the Appellate Practice Group and is Director of Attorney Development. Before her judicial appointment, she was an experienced trial and appellate lawyer with Locke Lord’s predecessor firms.

Justice Lang-Miers is the past chair of numerous ABA and State Bar bodies, including the Judicial Division, Appellate Judges Conference, and Judicial Section. She was a member of the Executive Committee of the State Bar of Texas, Past President of the Dallas Bar Association (DBA), and a Past President of the Mac Taylor Inn of Court.

Justice Lang-Miers is a Life Fellow of the American, Texas, and Dallas Bar Foundations, past chair of The Dallas Bar Foundation, past vice-chair of the board of The Dallas Foundation, and former co-chair of Locke Lord's Women's Initiative Committee. She is also a member of the American Law Institute, the Board of Trustees of the Center for American and International Law, a former member of the Board of Trustees of the Texas Supreme Court Historical Society, and a member of the International Women's Forum.

Justice Lang-Miers received the Judge Samuel Pessarra Outstanding Jurist Award from the Texas Bar Foundation, Judge Sam Williams Leadership Award from the State Bar of Texas, Louise Raggio Award from the Dallas Women Lawyers Association, and the Chair's Award for Excellence from the Texas Center for the Judiciary.

Justice Lang-Miers began her legal career as a law clerk to the Honorable James A. Finch, Jr. of the Supreme Court of Missouri. She received her J.D. from the University of Missouri Law School and her B.A. in history from the University of Missouri at Columbia.

Steven Leibel is the founding attorney of Leibel Law, a multi-office firm in Georgia. He represents individuals in serious personal injury, medical malpractice, and wrongful death cases.

Leibel has been recognized for obtaining in 2014 one of the ten largest jury verdicts in the United States that year, a record 776 million dollars in Georgia (the third largest verdict in the U.S. for a single wrongful death in 2014). He received a Martindale Preeminent designation—an award granted to attorneys who rank at the highest level of professional excellence.

Leibel graduated from Emory University School of Law, where he was elected President of the Emory International Law Society. He finished first in the class at the North Central Georgia Law Enforcement Academy, affiliated with West Georgia College. Paring the two, he maintains certification as a law enforcement officer and serves as a legal advisor to police chiefs and sheriffs. He graduated summa cum laude with an undergraduate degree from Queens College, City University of New York.

Leibel served on the Board of Governors of the State Bar of Georgia and as a Municipal Court Judge. He is currently a member of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association, Lawyers Club of Atlanta, Forsyth County Bar Association, and Enotah Judicial Circuit Bar Association.

Leibel has appeared on CNN, local news, and Court TV, and has served as a guest host on TrustDALE radio.

Richard H. Levenstein is a shareholder at Nason Yeager, a Florida-based law firm. He practices in the area of physician and medical staff representation, healthcare law, and complex commercial and civil litigation. He has successfully challenged the policies of major hospitals and won several substantial court victories, shaping the law to protect physicians and medical staff.

Levenstein is the founding president of the Justice Major B. Harding American Inn of Court and former president of the Martin County Bar Association. He has served on several Florida Bar Committees and the Boards of the American Inns of Court Foundation, the Lawyers Committee of the National Center for State Courts, and the American Judicature Society. He is a Board-Certified Business Litigation Lawyer and trains lawyers and judges around the country about the importance of a fair and impartial judiciary through the “Our Courts America” initiative.

Levenstein has lectured as a law school Adjunct Professor at Tulane Law school and Senior Law Lecturer and has even lectured at Tulane Medical School. He has been selected to receive the 2024 American Inns of Court Foundation’s A. Sherman Christensen Award at the Supreme Court of the United States in October 2024. He is a member of the American Medical Association (AMA) Legal Advisory Board and has made multiple presentations to the AMA and other medical associations and societies.

Levenstein earned his J.D. and his bachelor's degree from Tulane University.

John “Jack” Lloyd is a supervising attorney with Legal Aid of North Carolina’s economic justice/mortgage foreclosure prevention project. Through this project, Jack handles cases involving consumer advocacy, elder abuse, and federal fair housing discrimination.

With over twenty years of litigation experience, Jack supports Legal Aid offices across North Carolina that are involved in complex litigation, mentoring attorneys through all stages of the litigation process, from the initial pleadings, through discovery and depositions, to motion and trial practice. Although the majority of his cases are heard in North Carolina Superior Court, Jack practices at all levels of state court, including appellate work.

During the past decade, Jack has worked in a clinical capacity with students from all North Carolina law schools. Jack has also spent the past six years serving as an Advisory Member to the North Carolina State Bar's Ethics Committee, which issues the Formal Ethics Opinions that guide the ethical practice of law in North Carolina.

Jack received his J.D. from Widener University School of Law and his B.S. in Philosophy from the University of Scranton.

James F. (Rik) Lovett, Jr. practices family law in Raleigh at Rik Lovett and Associates and has been doing so for almost 34 years. Shortly after beginning his legal career as a bankruptcy attorney, Rik gravitated toward the more scintillating, personal arena of divorce / family law and began practicing exclusively in that field and has continued to do for the last 31 years.

Today, Rik is a North Carolina State Board Certified Specialist in Family Law and a Martindale Hubbel AV Preeminent attorney. He has also been named to Super Lawyers and Legal Elite (nominated by peers) both currently ( 2024 ) and many times previously. In addition, Rik has been named a National Advocate Top 100 Matrimonial and Family Lawyer and 10 best in North Carolina- client satisfaction- by the American Institute of Family Lawyers.

A former NC state high school tennis champion, nationally ranked junior, and college scholarship athlete, Rik initially learned to fight on a tennis court. Those skills were readily transferable to the courtroom and negotiation / mediation playing fields.

Rik obtained his BA degree from Furman University and his law degree from Wake Forest University. He is a member of the American, N.C. and Wake County Bar Associations. His practice is limited to Divorce and Family Law. He has taught many Continuing Legal Education seminars to other N.C. family law attorneys.

Rik is a member of Providence Church and the Christian Legal Society.

Hon. Julian Mann III retired in 2021, after serving twelve terms as North Carolina's Chief Administrative Law Judge and Director of the Office of Administrative Hearings. He received appointments by five different Chief Justices of the Supreme Court of North Carolina and is the longest serving Chief Administrative Law Judge in North Carolina history. Upon retirement, he was given the Amicus Curiae Award, the Supreme Court's highest recognition.

Prior to his judicial role, Judge Mann was in private practice, concentrating in administrative law litigation and serving as private counsel to the North Carolina Board of Architecture and the North Carolina Veterinary Medical Board. He has also served as an Adjunct Professor for Administrative Law, Business Law, Regulatory Law, and Architectural Law.

Judge Mann has served as chair of the ABA Judicial Division and the National Conference of the Administrative Law Judiciary. Recently, he served as vice president at-large of the North Carolina Bar Association and chair of its endowment committee.

Judge Mann has authored numerous legal articles and is a frequent CLE presenter, primarily in the fields of special education and administrative law. His novel Madam Vice President received the May 2021 Literary Titan Five Star award.

Judge Mann received his B.S. from the University of North Carolina, M.P.A. from North Carolina State University, and J.D. from Samford University Cumberland School of Law, where he received the distinguished alumnus award in 2017. In 2021, he was awarded certification in the category of public leadership by the Harvard Kennedy School of Government’s Executive Education program.

Judge Paul B. Matey was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in 2019 by President Trump.

Before his judicial service, Judge Matey was a partner at Lowenstein Sandler in New Jersey where he practiced complex commercial litigation and criminal defense. Earlier, Judge Matey was the Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary for University Hospital Newark, an academic medical center and teaching hospital.

He also served as the Deputy Chief Counsel to Governor Chris Christie, and as an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of New Jersey, where he was awarded the Justice Department’s Director’s Award for Superior Performance. He also practiced at the Washington D.C. firm of Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel & Frederick, and served as a law clerk to the Hon. John C. Lifland on United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, and the Hon. Robert E. Cowen on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Scranton, a Jesuit University, in 1993, and his juris doctorate, summa cum laude, from Seton Hall University School of Law in 2001, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Seton Hall Law Review.

In 2019, Judge Matey was elected to membership in the American Law Institute and, since 2020, has lectured on administrative law, classical and natural legal interpretation, and legal writing at Seton Hall and Catholic University.

Hon. Stephen R. McCullough has served as a justice on the Supreme Court of Virginia since 2016.

Prior to this role, the General Assembly of Virginia elected McCullough to a judgeship on the Court of Appeals of Virginia in 2011. Before taking the bench, McCullough served as Deputy Solicitor General and Solicitor General for Virginia, representing the State of Virginia in non-capital cases before the United States Supreme Court. He also served as an Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal Litigation Section and Senior Appellate Counsel and Opinions Counsel in the Office of the Attorney General.

The National Association of Attorneys General awarded McCullough a United States Supreme Court Fellowship and two “Best Brief” awards for briefs he authored in the United States Supreme Court.

McCullough has served on the Access to Justice Commission, the Boyd Graves Conference, and the Virginia Bar Association Board of Governors and currently chairs the Virginia Model Jury Instructions Committee. He has written and lectured extensively on appellate procedure and criminal law.

McCullough obtained his J.D. with honors from the University of Richmond School of Law and his bachelor’s degree with high distinction, Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of Virginia. After law school, McCullough clerked for Justice (later Chief Justice) Leroy R. Hassell Sr. of the Virginia Supreme Court.

The Honorable Valene K. McMasters has served as a District Court Judge in Forsyth County, North Carolina since 2021. Prior to becoming a Judge, she served as Managing Attorney for the Winston-Salem office of Legal Aid of North Carolina for 19 years. As Managing Attorney, she supervised the legal work for the staff of over 25 attorneys and paralegals, and assisted clients in Family Law, Housing, and Public Benefits cases. Prior to joining Legal Aid, she worked as a Trademark Law Department Associate with Kilpatrick law firm’s Winston-Salem Office.

Judge McMasters’s past professional work includes serving as a presenter for the North Carolina Bar Association’s Fundamentals of Domestic Violence for Lawyers Institute, Southern States Victim Assistance Training Conference, College of the Albemarle Basic Law Enforcement Training, North Carolina Rural Courts Commission, and North Carolina Governor’s Crime Commission.

Her community involvement includes serving as a big sister for Big Brothers, Big Sisters, Board Chair for both Authoring Action Youth Group and the Shugart Women’s Center at Forsyth Technical Community College, as well as a member of the Board of Trustees for Salemtowne Retirement Community. In addition, Judge McMasters is a former President of the Winston-Salem and Forsyth County Bar Associations. She is a 2011 recipient of the North Carolina Bar Association’s Citizen Lawyer Award, and a 2013 recipient of the City of Winston-Salem, Human Relations Department’s MLK Young Dreamer’s Award.

Judge McMasters is a 1995 graduate of Cornell University, with Distinction in All Subjects, and a 1998 graduate of Boston College Law School.

Dan McLamb is one of the most widely recognized civil litigators in North Carolina. He was a founding partner of Yates, McLamb & Weyher, L.L.P. and recently joined Batten McLamb Smith.

McLamb is one of a handful of attorneys selected by their peers to be a member of the four primary national trial lawyers' organizations: (1) The American College of Trial Lawyers, (2) The International Society of Barristers, (3) The International Academy of Trial Lawyers, and (4) The American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA).

Over the past 30 years, McLamb's practice has been primarily focused on defending professional liability cases and general liability cases with significant exposure. He has tried over 100 jury cases (state and federal) to verdict throughout North Carolina, most being multi-week and involving catastrophic injury claims.

McLamb has four times been named “Lawyer of the Year” for Raleigh in “Professional Malpractice Law – Defendants” by Best Lawyers and U.S. News and World Report. He was voted amongst Business North Carolina magazine's Legal Elite for seven years running and has been included in that magazine’s Litigation “Hall of Fame.”

In 13 separate years, North Carolina Super Lawyers has listed McLamb as one of the top-ten vote recipients among attorneys of all specialties. On four occasions, he was the top vote recipient. Chambers USA has named him one of the top healthcare litigators in North Carolina for over 15 years running. Furthermore, he became the second-ever attorney to receive The North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys’ Award for Excellence in Trial Advocacy.

McLamb received his B.A. and J.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he graduated with honors and represented the school’s National Moot Court team at the National Final Rounds.

McLamb is married to another member of the High Point Law Extended Faculty, Barbara B. "Bonnie" Weyher. Outside of law, he serves as the Vice President of the Blowing Rock Art and History Museum (BRAHM) Board of Directors.

Nicholaus Mills is a senior litigation associate in the New York office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. Nick’s practice centers on complex criminal and civil disputes, with a particular focus on high-stakes commercial litigation involving technology, media, and financial services companies, in federal and state courts. Nick also routinely advises clients on regulatory and contractual matters.

Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Nick served as a law clerk to Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh of the Supreme Court of the United States, Judge Don R. Willett of the U.S. Court of Appeals for Fifth Circuit, and Judge Rachel P. Kovner of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Nick also practiced with the firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, where he advised public and private companies on complex M&A transactions and corporate governance matters, for two years. Nick earned his J.D./M.B.A, summa cum laude, from Cornell Law School and the Cornell SC Johnson School of Management. Nick graduated first in his class from Cornell Law School, was elected to the Order of the Coif, and was awarded the Boardman Prize—award for best academic work through second year—and the Henn Memorial Prize—award for the highest annual grade in business organizations. While in law school, Nick served as an editor on the Cornell Law Review, a member of the Federalist Society and the Black Law Students Association, a teaching assistant to three acclaimed professors, and an intern to the General Counsel of Tompkins Financial Corporation and to the General Counsel of Cornell University.

Prior to law school, Nick worked for a non-profit located in Jerusalem, Israel. Nick received his Bachelor of Science, cum laude, from Oral Roberts University, where he competed on the Division One soccer team.

Nick is a member of the New York bar. He is admitted to practice before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Hon. William Mims is a senior justice on the Supreme Court of Virginia. He also teaches courses on the U.S. Constitution and American Law and directs the pre-law program at Christopher Newport University.

Prior to these roles, Justice Mims served as Attorney General of Virginia and as a member of the Virginia General Assembly. In addition, he previously taught as an Adjunct Professor at two Virginia law schools.

Justice Mims has been active in professional and community service, serving on the boards of Voices for Virginia’s Children, the Richmond Behavioral Health Authority, the Virginia Health Care Foundation, the Commission on Mental Health Law Reform, and on the Board of Governors of the Virginia Bar Association. Along with serving as an elder at his church, he also frequently authors “Faith & Values” guest columns for the Richmond Times-Dispatch and speaks often throughout Virginia on justice and servant leadership.

Justice Mims received his LL.M. from Georgetown University School of Law, his J.D. from George Washington University School of Law, and his A.B. in history from the College of William & Mary.

Paul Martin Newby is the 30th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina. Chief Justice Newby was first elected to the Supreme Court as associate justice in 2004 and was elevated to the highest judicial office in North Carolina in the 2020 election.

In addition to his service on the Court, Chief Justice Newby is an adjunct professor at Campbell University School of Law. He is the co-author of The North Carolina State Constitution with History and Commentary (2nd ed. 2013) with Professor John V. Orth of the University of North Carolina School of Law. He was honored by the North Carolina Bar Association with its Citizen Lawyer Award in 2011, and in 2012 he received its John McNeill Smith Jr. Award for his work in constitutional rights and responsibilities. In 2013, Chief Justice Newby was named a Leader in the Law by North Carolina Lawyers Weekly. In recognition of his professional service, Chief Justice Newby received the James Iredell Award and an Honorary Doctor of Laws from Southern Wesleyan University.

He began practicing law in Asheville with the Van Winkle Law Firm and later served as vice president and general counsel of Cannon Mills Realty and Development Corporation in Kannapolis. In 1985, Chief Justice Newby was appointed as an assistant United States attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina in Raleigh where he served for over 19 years. During this time, he played an integral role in conducting the undercover sting operation that recovered North Carolina’s original copy of the Bill of Rights, stolen in the aftermath of the Civil War.

Chief Justice Newby is an Eagle Scout and is the recipient of the Heroism Award. In 2012, he was designated a Distinguished Eagle Scout, a national honor that recognizes both his service to the Boy Scouts and his dedication to public service.

Chief Justice Newby has been married to Macon Tucker Newby since 1983, and they have four children. He and his wife attend Christ Baptist Church in Raleigh.

John Nieman retired from the Guilford County Public Defender's Office in 2023 as Chief Public Defender after over twenty years in that office and over thirty years as a trial attorney. He has defended and prosecuted cases from minor misdemeanors to murders. John has taught paralegal studies at UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke University, Greensboro College, Guilford College and many community colleges. He has lectured at law schools, Continuing Legal Education programs and was on the faculty of the Conference of District Attorneys. His wife, Martha Massie, is a board-certified specialist family law attorney and his son, Jeff Nieman, is the elected District Attorney for Orange and Chatham counties.

James R. “Jim” O’Neill is the District Attorney for Prosecutorial District #31 in Forsyth County, North Carolina. He is currently serving his fourth term in this elected position.

As District Attorney, O’Neill has instituted a prosecution program targeting sex offenders living within the community and another focusing resources on prosecuting chronic criminal offenders. He has also established an Elder Abuse Task Force, spearheaded the District Attorney’s Treatment Alternative (DATA) program to help people overcome opioid addiction, and launched the DRIVE program for license restoration.

Prior to serving as an elected DA, O’Neill served as an Assistant District Attorney under former District Attorney Tom Keith. In total, O’Neill has served in the Forsyth County DA’s office for over 25 years. He has served in many leadership roles in that office, including chief motor vehicle fatality prosecutor and the county's first domestic violence prosecutor.

O’Neill is active in the community, serving as a board member for Hospice, The Parenting Path, the Industries for the Blind and Senior Services, and ARCA. He received his J.D. from New York Law School and his bachelor’s degree from Duke University.

Hon. Michael L. Robinson is a Special Superior Court Judge for Complex Business Cases in North Carolina, colloquially known as the "Business Court." In this role, Judge Robinson serves as a member of the American College of Business Court Judges.

Prior to his judgeship, Judge Robinson practiced law for 35 years in Winston-Salem, North Carolina with the law firms of Petree Stockton & Robinson and Robinson & Lawing. His practice concentrated on complex business litigation. He also served as a North Carolina State Bar Councilor for nearly a decade.

Judge Robinson received a J.D., with honors, from the University of North Carolina School of Law, where he was a member of the Order of the Coif. He also received a B.A. in economics from Davidson College.

Mr. Roh primarily focuses on representing public sector clients, including municipalities and counties, working with various local agencies in New Mexico on a range of issues including civil, commercial, and employment litigation; real estate law and transactions; elder law; and probate and estate planning. Mr. Roh also represents private sector clients in a range of areas including cross-border transactions, where he has a particular focus on Korea and Asia generally.

Notably, Mr. Roh received the prestigious Sandra Day O’Connor Award for Professional Service by the American Inns of Court at the Supreme Court of the United States which recognizes the contributions of attorneys in practice for 10 or less years for their pro bono or public interest work. He is also recognized as a Rising Star by Super Lawyers.

Mr. Roh is admitted to practice before the state courts of New Mexico and Wyoming, the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court. He has been appointed to The Lawyers Committee of the National Center for State Courts, which provides leading attorneys of the nation’s preeminent law firms the opportunity to partner with NCSC to help build public understanding of the need for a strong and independent judiciary. Prior to joining Rimon, Mr. Roh practiced law at a law firm located in Albuquerque, and also served as a law clerk in Wyoming.

Hon. Rod J. Rosenstein is a partner at King & Spalding in Washington, D.C. His practice focuses on government investigations, crisis management, national security and cyber issues, tax controversies, compliance, and monitoring.

Prior to his practice at King & Spaulding, Rosenstein served in leadership positions in the U.S. Department of Justice during the administrations of Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump, including as Deputy Attorney General and U.S. Attorney for Maryland. He personally represented the United States in 23 jury trials and argued 21 appeals in various appellate courts and the United States Supreme Court.

As the second-highest ranking Department of Justice official from 2017 to 2019, Rosenstein was responsible for overseeing 115,000 employees nationwide in the litigating divisions, law enforcement agencies, and U.S. Attorney’s Offices. He revised policies concerning corporate criminal prosecutions and parallel domestic and foreign investigations, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act matters, and health care fraud cases. He also reviewed significant proposed criminal and civil enforcement actions, False Claims Act settlements, and corporate monitor appointments. Rosenstein led the Task Force on Market Integrity and Consumer Fraud and the Cyber-Digital Task Force, and he handled national security matters reviewed by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.

A member of the United States Chamber Litigation Center’s Board of Directors, Rosenstein frequently speaks about federal enforcement policies and priorities. He has also taught semester-long courses for several years as a law school Adjunct Professor.

Rosenstein received his J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School and his B.S. in economics, summa cum laude, from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He began his legal career as a law clerk to Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Greg Schwitzgebel served for over 25 years as Associate General Counsel for the North Carolina League of Municipalities (NCLM) and is the current president of the N.C. Supreme Court Historical Society.

At the NCLM, Schwitzgebel advocated on behalf of over 540 jurisdictions (encompassing 2500+ elected officials) and authored numerous amicus curiae briefs in significant cases of statewide impact. Prior to this position, he clerked for the N.C. Court of Appeals.

Schwitzgebel has also served the N.C. Bar Association in a number of capacities, including chair of the Appellate Practice Section, chair and founder of the Appellate Moot Court Program for Practitioners, vice-chair of the Government & Public Sector Section, and member of the Appellate Rules Committee. He has also served as a volunteer for the Craven Moot Court Competition (National) and the Holderness Moot Court Bench.

Schwitzgebel has received the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, North Carolina’s highest honor for civilian service. He has also received the Friend of the Court Award (the highest award conferred by the N.C. Judicial Branch) and the N.C. State University Distinguished Alumnus Award.

Schwitzgebel graduated with his J.D. (Order of the Coif) from the University of North Carolina School of Law, his M.P.A. from N.C. State University, and his M.A. in political science from Emory University.

Hon. Ramona G. See spent over two decades as judge in California, first serving on the Municipal Court of California, County of Los Angeles, from 1997 to 2000 and then on the Los Angeles Superior Court from 2000 to 2021. She now serves as a neutral for ADR Services, Inc.

Before taking the bench, Judge See worked in private practice at Allen, Matkins, Leck, Gamble & Mallory, specializing in business, employment, and real estate law. She also worked at Lewis, D’Amato, Brisbois & Bisgaard, where her practice focused on advising and representing clients in products liability, legal and medical malpractice, and corporate transactions.

Judge See has devoted considerable time to teaching programs for numerous organizations, including the Los Angeles Superior Court Judicial Education Seminars, the Center for Judicial Education and Research, the California Judges Association, and the American Bar Association. She has been a lecturer at legal conferences in the United States and internationally, including representing the United States through the World Justice Project and the ABA’s Rule of Law Initiative. She also served as chair of the ABA Judicial Clerkship Program for six years and worked to introduce law students from diverse backgrounds from around the country to judges and law clerks.

Judge See received her J.D. from Boston College School of law and her B.A. from the University of Michigan.

Hon. Marcus Shields is an attorney at Ellis Winters in its Greensboro, North Carolina office. At the firm, he represents clients in complex commercial disputes and tort matters.

Prior to joining Ellis Winters, Shields served as a District Court Judge in Guilford County, where he presided over the Greensboro Juvenile Drug Treatment Court, the High Point Juvenile Drug Treatment Court, and the Greensboro Adult Mental Health Court. Shields has also served as an Assistant Public Defender, as a Post-Conviction Attorney with North Carolina Prisoner Legal Services, and as a law school adjunct professor.

Shields is the former President of the Greensboro Bar Association, the 24th Judicial District Bar, and the Guilford County Association of Black Lawyers. Due to his active volunteerism in feeding the less fortunate, giving back to local schools, and mentoring others, he was selected in 2022 by Black Business Ink as a “40 Under 40” Most Influential African Americans in the Triad.

Shields earned his J.D. from North Carolina Central University School of Law and his B.A. cum laude in experimental psychology from the University of South Carolina.

Hon. Anuraag “Raag” Singhal is a United States District Court Judge for the Southern District of Florida. He is the first Asian American in history to serve as an Article III judge in the Eleventh Circuit of the United States.

Prior to serving on the federal bench, Judge Singhal spent eight years as a judge on the Circuit Court in Broward County, Florida, serving in the criminal, civil, and mental health divisions. He also sat as an Associate Judge on Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal on several occasions.

Before his service as a judge, Judge Singhal served as Associate Dean of the Florida College for Advanced Judicial Studies, worked at a civil litigation firm, and served three years as an Assistant State Attorney. He also ran a successful criminal defense practice in Fort Lauderdale, Florida for eighteen years. During that time, he handled more than two hundred jury trials, including thirty first-degree murder cases.

Judge Singhal is the past president of the Broward Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Stephen H. Booher Chapter of the American Inns of Court. He was on the Board of Directors of the Broward County Bar Association and is a frequent speaker at various bar events in South Florida.

Judge Singhal received his J.D. from Wake Forest University School of Law, where his team won the J. Braxton Craven National Moot Court Competition (4th Amendment). He received his B.A. in political science from Rice University.

Ray Starling is the General Counsel of the North Carolina Chamber (the state's largest, broad-based business advocacy organization) and President of the North Carolina Chamber Legal Institute. He sets litigation strategy for the NC Chamber, the NC Chamber Legal Institute, and its affiliated entities. He is also the lead for public policy development functions of the NC Chamber, in which he assesses and advises the Chamber on current and emerging laws, rulings, and regulations.

Prior to joining the NC Chamber, Starling served as the Principal Agriculture Advisor to the President of the United States and Chief of Staff to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. There, he executed the Secretary's policy agenda for the U.S. Department of Agriculture—a $140 billion agency with over 100,000 employees.

Starling also served as Chief of Staff and Chief Counsel for North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis; and when Senator Tillis was Speaker of the House in the North Carolina legislature, he served as his General Counsel. Before these roles, Starling worked as General Counsel for the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and was in private practice for a number of years.

Starling is the author of Farmers Versus Foodies, a novel that provides perspective on who will determine the future of the farming and food system in the United States and beyond. His book is an Amazon best seller and has been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.

Starling has taught numerous courses on agricultural and food law. He has a bachelor’s degree in agricultural education from North Carolina State University and a law degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Hon. Donna S. Stroud served as the 10th Chief Judge of the North Carolina Court of Appeals and is currently serving her third consecutive term as a member of that Court. She has also served as a law school Adjunct Professor for over a decade, teaching Judicial Process and Juvenile Law.

Prior to elected office, Judge Stroud was in private practice for 16 years. She represented individuals, businesses, and municipalities in a wide variety of cases and tried cases in many counties across North Carolina. During this time, she also served as a Certified Superior Court Mediator and a District Court Arbitrator. Judge Stroud was then elected as a District Court Judge in Wake County, serving as a Family Court Judge.

Judge Stroud received her J.D., cum laude, from Campbell University School of Law, where she graduated first in her class. She also holds an LL.M. in Judicial Studies from Duke University School of Law and was a member of its charter class. Her thesis from this program, “The Bottom of the Iceberg: Unpublished Opinions,” was published in the Campbell Law Review.

Jerry Tillett grew up on the Outer Banks of North Carolina and participated in sports throughout secondary school.

Mr. Tillett was graduated from Wake Forest University with degrees in History and English, and Wake Forest School of Law. He was the recipient of academic honors and awards. After a brief period with one of the state’s largest firms in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Jerry Tillett returned to Dare County and became partner in the firm of Merrell, Tillett, and Barnes. He engaged in the general practice of law, involved in criminal, civil, administrative, and governmental matters, including an extensive real estate practice.

Jerry Tillett was elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives and tapped to become Chief of Staff and Chief Legal Counsel for the NC Senate President Pro Tempore shepherding all types of legislation, management of committees, and appointments.

Jerry Tillett was appointed by the Governor as one of two special Superior Court Judges serving the State of North Carolina in 1993. Thereafter he was appointed Resident Superior Court Judge and has been elected to serve as Superior Court Judge for over thirty years, holding court in over eighty of the state’s one hundred counties. Judge Tillett currently serves as Senior Resident Superior Court Judge with calendaring, management and appointment duties for the state’s largest Judicial District consisting of seven counties.

Judge Tillett previously taught extensively in legal related areas including real estate law, broker and real estate salesmen licensing, legal instruments, legal writing, business law and paralegalism. Jerry Tillett serves as Senior Lecturing Fellow for Regent Law School teaching Constitutional Law, Evidence, and Trial Advocacy.

Judge Tillett attends Manteo Assembly of God Church and is active in many community and extra-curricular activities having served on numerous committees and commission of the State Legislature, and as President of local Bar Associations, College of the Albemarle Board of Trustees, Dare County Tourism Board, Farm Bureau Board, Dare County Chamber of Commerce. Judge Tillett was elected 33° Scottish Rite Mason, and the statewide Leader of Masonic and Appendant Organizations in North Carolina 2002, and elected Potentate of North Carolina Shrine, Sudan Temple 2015.

Judge Tillett was instrumental in establishing and now manages the Dare County Recovery Court for Opioid addiction in addition to regular duties.

Mr. Tillett has been married to Tanya Tillett for forty-five years and has two adult children and one grandchild.

Andrew R. Turner practices collection law, creditors’ rights law, corporate law, and civil litigation at his firm, Turner Law Firm, LLC, in South Orange, New Jersey.

Turner also co-founded the Bankruptcy Inn Alliance, an organization that facilitates the exchange of programs and knowledge among Bankruptcy American Inns of Court. He has served as Barrister, Program Chair, and Executive Director, and he also led the charge to establish that organization’s Distinguished Service Award in conjunction with the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges and the American Inns of Court Foundation’s Board of Trustees.

Along with his dedicated service to the Bankruptcy Inn Alliance, Turner served two terms on the American Inns of Court Board of Trustee and currently chairs the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Appellate Practice Committee. He is also an active member of the Essex County (NJ) Bar Association.

He was a panelist for the Essex County Bar Foundation's program “Litigating in the New Jersey Bankruptcy Courts,” and the New Jersey Commission on Professionalism’s program “Law’s Promoting Professionalism Conference.” He also moderated the “New Jersey Bankruptcy Practice” panel for the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education and lectured on “Conflicts of Interest and Ethics in Bankruptcy” for the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education.

Turner received his J.D. from Loyola University-Chicago and his B.S. in Business Administration from Georgetown University. After law school, he clerked for Judge Julius A. Feinberg on the Superior Court of New Jersey.

Hon. John M. Tyson currently sits as a judge on the North Carolina Court of Appeals. He is serving his second consecutive term out of three total terms on the Court. He was elected to his first term, then served as a recall judge for the Court and an emergency North Carolina Superior Court judge, and then reelected for two more terms.

Prior to his judgeship, Judge Tyson worked as an attorney in private practice, as a senior-level legal counsel, and positions in corporate real estate development. He established his own law firm, Tyson & Associates, where his legal expertise was primarily in landlord-tenant law, land use, and real estate law. He also handled civil litigation and criminal defense cases. Before his legal career, Judge Tyson worked as a probation/parole officer and public-school teacher.

Judge Tyson received his J.D. from Campbell University School of Law and B.S. from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. He also holds two master's degrees: an LL.M. from the University of Virginia and an M.B.A. from Duke University. In 2020, he received the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. He has also served as a law school Adjunct Professor for many years.

Don Vaughan is a practicing attorney in Greensboro. Vaughan served two terms in the North Carolina Senate, one as a Deputy Leader. He served seven terms on the Greensboro City Council, two as Mayor Pro Tem. He has been a member of the North Carolina Courts Commission, and currently serves on the North Carolina State Banking Commission. He teaches State and Local Government.

Vaughan graduated with Highest Honors from UNC Chapel Hill, holds a Masters Degree in Public Administration from American University in Washington, and his law degree from Wake Forest, where he was a member of the Wake Forest Law Review.

Vaughan has taught for ten terms as an Adjunct Professor at Wake Forest Law School and three terms at Elon Law School. He has taught as an Adjunct Professor in the Masters of Public Administration graduate school at UNC Greensboro. He received a Lectureship at American University and taught undergraduate political science.

Vaughan was recently named to the North Carolina Bar Association Hall of Fame and was honored with the Distinguished Service Award from the Greensboro Bar Association. He represents numerous corporate and private clients and is a member of the North Carolina and District of Columbia Bars, all federal courts, and the United States Supreme Court.

Kirk Warner is a partner and lead trial lawyer at Smith Anderson in Raleigh, North Carolina. He leads the firm’s Products Liability, Mass Tort and Catastrophic Loss, and Toxic Torts practice groups and is a senior commercial and construction law litigator. He has litigated and tried cases nationwide.

Warner is a retired Army Colonel, Iraqi War Commander, and Senior Army Judge Advocate who was Legal Counsel to three Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon and several major Commands. He served as the Commander of the 12th JAG and Deputy Staff Judge Advocate of the Coalition Forces Land Component Command and V-Corps during major combat operations and nation building in Iraq. He commanded the 134th Legal Operations Detachment and served as the Staff Judge Advocate of the Army’s Training Command. For his distinguished military service, he has received numerous awards and decorations, including the Legion of Merit and the Bronze Star Medal. Warner is the author of two award-winning military history books: A Hoot in Hell’s Island and Zone of Action: A JAG’s Journey Inside Operations Cobra II and Iraqi Freedom.

Warner has been a commissioner on the North Carolina Military Affairs Commission and the Equal Access to Justice Commission and is an honorary member of the Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism. He is currently Chairman of the Board of Directors of the North Carolina Veterans Life Center and served on the Board of Governors of the North Carolina Bar Association where he founded Military and Veterans Law Section. He is the Vice-Chair of the LAMP Committee of the NC State Bar. Warner is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and the American Board of Trial Advocates. He has been repeatedly recognized in multiple litigation categories in Best Lawyers in America, Benchmark Litigation, and Business North Carolina Legal Elite.

Warner received his J.D. from Duke University and University of Toledo; M.B.A in biosciences and M.A. in history from North Carolina State University; and B.S. in zoology from The Ohio State University. He also received a M.S.S. in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College.

Thomas C. Watkins is an attorney with Schell Bray in Greensboro, North Carolina. His practice focuses primarily on closely held businesses and investment vehicles. He has extensive experience representing investors, borrowers, and lenders in a broad range of complex transactions, including debt and equity investments, financings, mergers and acquisitions, and restructurings.

Watkins spends significant time representing private equity funds and other investors in connection with their investments and related matters, such as negotiating investment terms, exit transactions, and private equity fund management. His private equity clients have been involved in transactions throughout the United States and internationally. His current practice includes Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) law as it affects collegiate student-athletes and related NIL organizations. NIL law is a developing area involving corporate, tax, and regulatory issues.

Watkins serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Piedmont Triad Charitable Foundation, which sponsors the Wyndham Championship PGA Tour event. He has served as President of the Greensboro Sports Council and as a member of its Board of Directors. He is a past member of the Board of Visitors of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the UNC Children’s Hospital and the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. He has served on the Board of Governors of the North Carolina Bar Association and is a past chair of the Bar Association’s Business Law Section. Watkins recently received the Business Law Section’s highest honor, its Distinguished Service Award, which recognizes extraordinary service to the Business Law Section, the legal profession and the public.

Watkins received his B.S. and his J.D., with honors, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Hon. William A. “Bill” Webb served fourteen years as a United States Magistrate Judge in the Eastern District of North Carolina. He is now a neutral with Delphi Dispute Resolution.

Judge Webb is certified as a mediator in all three federal districts in North Carolina and the North Carolina Superior Courts. He has comprehensive expertise in the areas of employment law, federal regulations and procedure, and federal appeals. He honed his skills as a neutral while serving as a litigator, judge, and EEOC commissioner.

Judge Webb began his distinguished legal career as an assistant district attorney in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, rising in the office to prosecute homicide cases. He went on to serve as senior staff counsel on the U.S. House of Representatives' Select Committee on Assassinations in the District of Columbia. Returning to Pittsburgh, Judge Webb became an Assistant United States Attorney and then Deputy Attorney General of Pennsylvania.

Judge Webb is a member of the Fourth Circuit Judicial Conference , the Federal Bar Association, and the American Law Institute; and he is a former member of the University of North Carolina Board of Governors. He is the chairman of the North Carolina Dispute Resolution Commission and former co-chair of the North Carolina Commission on the Adjudication of Law.

Judge Webb received his J.D. from the University of Connecticut School of Law. Prior to law school, he graduated summa cum laude and first in his class from the University of New Haven, receiving the university’s third annual distinguished alumni award.

Hon. Thomas R. West is a former North Carolina Administrative Law Judge who is now serving as Vice President for Government Relations and General Counsel of North Carolina Independent Colleges & Universities, a role he has been in for nearly a decade. In between his governmental relations and judicial roles, he worked in private practice at Poyner Spruill LLP, focusing on administrative law litigation and rulemaking, mediation, and lobbying.

Judge West is the former president of the Craven-Everett Inn of Court and was a longstanding Member of the North Carolina Courts Commission. Super Lawyers magazine ranked him as one of North Carolina’s “Super Lawyers” in Administrative Law. He has also been ranked Best Lawyer in Administrative/Regulatory Law and “Lawyer of the Year” by Best Lawyers®.

Judge West received his J.D. from Duke University School of Law and his B.A. in history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was inducted as a member of the Order of the Golden Fleece. After law school, he clerked for the North Carolina Court of Appeals.

John R. Wester is a litigator in Robinson Bradshaw’s Charlotte office. His trials and appeals encompass corporate governance and shareholder rights disputes, federal securities and ERISA actions, unfair trade practice and trade secret disputes, tax controversies and employment discrimination. He has prosecuted and defended numerous class action cases in federal and state courts, with extensive experience in the North Carolina Business Court. Wester has also served as lead counsel in noteworthy cases reaching the U.S. Supreme Court.

Outside his wheelhouse of business litigation, Wester has brought and defended cases advancing constitutional issues. He was lead counsel in the North Carolina Supreme Court for Gov. Patrick McCrory and former Govs. James Hunt and James Martin in a successful challenge to the General Assembly's limiting the governor's authority over boards and commissions. In 2018, Wester was lead counsel for Gov. Roy Cooper challenging the General Assembly's proposed constitutional amendment to remove the governor's authority to fill judicial vacancies.

In 2021, Wester received the Advocate's Award, the highest honor given by the North Carolina Bar Association's Litigation Section.

Wester is a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers. He was state chair of the College in 2004-06.

In 2009-10, he served as president of the North Carolina Bar Association.

Wester was a Morehead Scholar at the University of North Carolina. He graduated with high honors from Duke Law School, where he was Note and Comment editor of the Duke Law Journal and inducted into the Order of the Coif.

Barbara B. “Bonnie” Weyher is a renowned American Arbitration Assocation National Roster Arbitrator and a certified North Carolina Superior Court Mediator. She practices with Weyher ADR, LLC.

Weyher has arbitrated and mediated cases involving commercial, consumer and multiparty claims (including breach of contract, trademark, franchise agreements, trade secrets, consumer lending, real property, partnership and shareholder disputes, bailment, fraud, and unfair trade practices); products liability claims; insurance coverage and regulatory matters; employment claims; medical and legal malpractice claims; and general liability/auto liability claims (including claims involving death and catastrophic injury).

Before serving as a full-time neutral, Weyher was one of the founding partners of Yates, McLamb & Weyher, L.L.P., a defense firm in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she practiced primarily in insurance coverage and professional liability. Prior to that, she worked for Young, Moore, Henderson & Alvis, P.A. and began her career in a New York City law firm.

Weyher is the past president of the North Carolina State Bar and Wake County Bar Association. She was also chair of both the Litigation Section and the Dispute Resolution Section of the North Carolina Bar Association.

Further, she served as Councilor on the North Carolina State Bar for eight years; chaired the Grievance Committee, Ethics Committee, and the Authorized Practice Committee; and served on the Executive Committee, Issues Committee, and Publications Committee.

Weyher received her J.D., with honors, and her B.A. in journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Hon. Frank Whitney currently serves as a United States District Judge for the Western District of North Carolina. Judge Whitney has also sat by designation on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.

On the military bench, Judge Whitney presided over the last court martial in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation New Dawn. He received a Bronze Star for meritorious service in a combat theater.

Judge Whitley has served in numerous positions in the federal government, including (1) thirty years in the United States Army Reserve as a military intelligence officer, judge advocate, and military judge; (2) eleven years as an Assistant United States Attorney; and (3) four years as a United States Attorney. He brings all this experience to the classroom, often teaching as an Adjunct Professor on National Security Law and Military Justice.

Judge Whitley received his B.A. (magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) from Wake Forest University, his J.D. (with honors) from the University of North Carolina School of Law, and his M.B.A. from the Kenan-Flagler School of Business at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

G. Gray Wilson practices in Winston-Salem, North Carolina as a partner at Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP. He practices with the litigation group, representing clients in a wide range of complex litigation matters, notably professional liability disputes in healthcare. He is an acclaimed defense attorney, having tried approximately 300 cases over the course of his career.

Wilson is the past president of the North Carolina Bar Association. He has demonstrated distinguished service to the Winston-Salem community through his work with the Old Hickory Council of the Boy Scouts of America. He has also served as chair of the Board of Trustees for First Christian Church, Centenary United Methodist Church, and Messiah Moravian Church.

Wilson is the author of North Carolina Civil Procedure, a two-volume treatise, and has been recognized as one of The Best Lawyers in America®. Further, he is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and has served as a law school Adjunct Professor teaching Trial Advocacy.

Wilson received his J.D. from Duke University School of Law and his B.A (Phi Beta Kappa) from Davidson College.

Hon April C. Wood is a judge on the North Carolina Court of Appeals. Prior to joining the appellate bench in 2021, she served as a district court judge in North Carolina Judicial District 22 and 22B for 18 years. Judge Wood is also a certified juvenile court judge and a certified mediator for the Court of Appeals.

Before taking the bench, Judge Wood opened a general practice law office in Thomasville, North Carolina. During this time, she became passionate about family law, which led her to becoming a certified family financial mediator.

Judge Wood serves on the board of the National Theological College and Graduate School and the North Carolina Memorial Day Committee. She previously served at the vice-chair of Cancer Services of Davidson County and Salvation Army of Davidson County. For the last twenty-two years, she has also been a regular graduation speaker for D.A.R.E – an organization combatting adolescent drug use.

Judge Wood brings her experience to the classroom by lecturing at continuing legal education conferences and the National Business Institute and by teaching as an adjunct professor at Elon University School of Law.

Judge Wood received her J.D. from Regent University School of Law and her B.A. from Pensacola Christian College, where she graduated summa cum laude. She obtained her LL.M., with distinction, in Legal Studies from Campbell University Law School and Nottingham University School of Law in England. In 2022, she was bestowed an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) by Pensacola Christian College.

Hon. James A Wynn, Jr. is a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Previously, he served for twenty years as an appellate judge on both the North Carolina Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of North Carolina.

His legal career also includes thirty years in the U.S. Navy Reserves, where he served as a military judge and retired at the rank of Navy Captain. Before becoming a judge, Wynn practiced law at a small litigation law firm in eastern North Carolina.

Judge Wynn currently serves on the U.S. Judicial Conference’s Information Technology Committee. He is a former member of the American Bar Endowment board of directors, where he served as the finance committee chair. He is a former chair of the American Bar Association’s Judicial Division and the Commission on Human Rights. He also has served as a Senior Lecturing Fellow at Duke University School of Law.

Judge Wynn holds degrees from the University of Virginia School of Law (LL.M.), Marquette University School of Law (J.D.), and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (B.A.).