Board of Directors

Brooke Schmidly, President. Brooke has been involved in the mock trial program since she competed in high school.  She is an Assistant Attorney General in the civil division.  She previously served as a NC District Court Judge and is a reserve judge advocate in the United States Air Force.  She is a trustee at Randolph Community College and Chair of the Board of a shelter for women and families in Randolph County.

Christine Scheef, Vice President. Christine has been involved in the mock trial program for many years, in positions ranging from State Coordinator, to Regional Coordinator, to Nationals Advisory Committee member. She works as Legal Counsel and Director of Policy with the North Carolina School Boards Association. Christine’s husband, Justin, serves as the NCMTP Webmaster. 

John H. Anderson, Jr., Treasurer. John has been involved in the mock trial program for many years and has served as the Regional Coordinator for the Wilmington region since 2011. John practices law with Murchison Taylor & Gibson PLLC and lives in Wilmington, NC. His practice areas include general business and commercial litigation, employment law, dispute resolution and financial services litigation where he represents business clients in a variety of business, banking and commercial litigation matters.

Drew Haywood. Secretary. Drew practices law at The Law Office of Drew Haywood in Durham, NC. He grew up in Asheboro, North Carolina, and attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he was the recipient of the prestigious Morehead-Cain Scholarship Award. At UNC, he served as the Undergraduate Student Attorney General. Drew attended law school at Emory University, in Atlanta, where he was a member of Law Journal as well as a participant in the Trial Techniques Program. His interest in the law began when he was a participant in the NC Mock Trial Program in high school. He was a member of the first-ever Mock Trial team at Asheboro High School where they won a state championship, advancing to nationals under coaches Steve Schmidly and Andy McVey.  He also serves as a NCMTP Regional Coordinator. Drew has practiced personal injury law since 2006 and has run his own firm in Durham, North Carolina since 2013. He is experienced at handling all manner of personal injury and insurance claims, having handled a wide variety of claims from beginning to trial. He has been a member of the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers since 2013 and has taught continuing education for the NCAJ. In his spare time, you can find Drew hiking and kayaking with his wife and two fur-babies.

Darren Allen. Darren Allen is a District Court Judge presiding in Randolph County, North Carolina. He brings to the bench nearly two decades of diverse legal experience, having served as a prosecutor, criminal defense attorney, and county attorney, practicing both at the trial level and on appeals. Judge Allen is a strong advocate for legal education and has been deeply involved in the North Carolina High School Mock Trial Program since his graduation from Campbell University School of Law in 2005. His passion for mentoring young legal minds has led to numerous accolades for his teams, including seven state championships, five top-ten national finishes, and a national championship title in 2017.

Liz Avery-Jones. Liz is the former Executive Director of the North Carolina Mock Trial Program (2020-2022). She earned her B.A. in International Affairs from the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia and worked in non-profit management at an international development company in Washington, DC and at the NC Advocates for Justice (NCAJ) in Raleigh, North Carolina.  As a NCAJ staffer, she served as program coordinator of the high school mock trial program for several years before leading the association’s publication projects.  For more details visit linkedin.com/in/lizaveryjones.

Brad Bannon. Brad is a criminal defense and civil rights lawyer whose mock trial roots run deep. He was on the national champion team during his senior year of high school and served as an attorney coach for years before becoming a long-serving member of the Board. Brad is a partner at Patterson Harkavy LLP and past president of NCAJ. For more information, visit pathlaw.com/attorneys/bradley-j-bannon.

Jodi Carpenter. Jodi is a native of North Carolina, growing up in North Carolina, attending both undergraduate and law school at Campbell University and practicing law in North Carolina since 1998. She is a former mock trial coach and scoring juror. Since graduation from Norman Adrian Wiggins Law School at Campbell University, Jodi has been a litigation attorney. For the first 22 years she was a family law litigator in private practice in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Jodi is now an Assistant Attorney General in the transportation unit handling superior court litigation on behalf of North Carolina Department of Transportation. 

Sue Gray. Sue is a former Mock Trial Coach with a Master’s degree in Education from Old Dominion University. For many years she has enjoyed coaching and encouraging students to develop their communication skills through competitive forensics. Sue has coached students who have earned scholarships, and awards at the State, regional and national level. In 2016, she was awarded her first Diamond Coaching Award for excellence with the National Speech and Debate Association. Sue is passionate about Mock Trial, and she enjoys seeing students reap the many benefits this adventure has to offer. Sue is happily married to Doug Gray, her high school sweetheart. They have 2 adult daughters, 2 awesome sons-in-law and a growing “bunch” of grandchildren.

Robert H. “Robby” Jessup. Robby served as NCMTP Co-Regional Coordinator for a number of years in Chapel Hill-Durham, and he has otherwise volunteered his time in various capacities with the mock trial program, including as a judge and scoring juror.  Robby grew up in Greenville, North Carolina. He attended UNC-Chapel Hill for undergraduate and law school.  In some capacity, he has participated in mock trials since high school.  Robby is a partner at the Howard Stallings Law Firm in Raleigh, where he represents plaintiffs in serious injury, wrongful death, and insurance claim cases.  Find out more at howardstallings.com.

Amy Marschall. Amy is a founding faculty member of Raleigh Charter High School, where she served as a teacher of English and German and was Director of Student Support until her retirement. In 2007, she founded RCHS’s Mock Trial program, which has fielded three teams each year since then and continues under the leadership of Kenny Felder. Amy was awarded the Steve Schmidly Outstanding Mock Trial Coach Award in 2023. She earned her undergraduate degree at Duke University and her Ph.D. in German Literature from The Johns Hopkins University. Amy is married to David Marschall, a retired violinist who played with the NC Symphony and the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra. She is the mother of Phiip and Owen. The latter was a member of RCHS’s first Mock Trial team.

Jacob M. Morse. Jacob is an alumnus of the North Carolina High School Mock Trial Program, having competed in the program while enrolled at Mooresville Senior High School. He credits that team and his coach for planting the seed that grew into his passion for mock trial. As an undergraduate, Jacob competed as a member of UNC Chapel Hill’s Carolina Mock Trial team and eventually served as captain of his team. At Campbell Law School, Jacob and his teammates were awarded numerous championship trophies and best-advocate trophies at tournaments across the country. His final run as a mock trial advocate resulted in his being named the 2017 Top Gun National Champion. He now enjoys coaching Campbell Law School advocates in tournaments across the country. In his practice, Jacob focuses on plaintiff’s-side class actions, complex litigation, and personal injury cases; find out more at morsefritts.com.

Chris Nichols. Chris has been coaching or participating in the North Carolina Mock Trial program since he was a second year law student during Mock Trial’s first year in 1992. Chris has coached teams in western North Carolina and, since 2016, coached the Broughton High School team in Raleigh with his co-coach, Dale Stephenson, and teacher sponsor Laura Lineberger. In 2023, their team won the state championship and placed eleventh at Nationals. Chris is a civil litigator at the Nichols Law Firm in Raleigh who represents individuals with claims of negligence against wrongdoers. He is a past president of NCAJ. Chris is married to Beth, a longtime supporter of mock trial. He even coached their daughter Zoe, during her high school years.

Brenée W. Orozco. Brenée received her Bachelor’s Degree from Mount Saint Mary College in New York. She then relocated to Arkansas where she earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law. Upon moving to North Carolina in 2007, she began to study for the North Carolina Bar Exam and was licensed to practice law in 2008. Her main area of practice is Abuse, Neglect and Dependency. However, she has experience practicing in other areas of Civil Law in addition to experience in practicing in Criminal Law. As a former President of the Bar Exam Committee of the Young Lawyer’s Division of the NCBA, she tutored applicants as they studied to pass the North Carolina Bar Exam. Since 2010, Ms. Orozco has served as a scoring juror with the NC High School Mock Trial Program. She enjoys creative writing, singing, dancing, and cooking.

Manisha P. Patel. Manisha is an attorney based in Greensboro, North Carolina, with a deep­rooted passion for justice. She graduated with two BAs in Economics and History from Virginia Tech and earned her Juris Doctor degree from Elon University School of Law. In Greensboro, she practices exclusively family law, focusing her practice on collaborative law and alternative dispute resolution. She’s a proud member of several professional organizations, including the Greensboro Bar Association, where she serves as President-­Elect, an elected State Bar Councilor for the 24th Judicial District, the North Carolina Bar Association, a two-time Past-President of the North Carolina Association of Women Attorneys, along as a past family law section chair and member of the North Carolina Advocates for Justice Board of Governors.

David Sherlin is a partner at Epstein Sherlin PLLC where his practice focuses on personal injury and wrongful death.  David is married to Lise Sherlin, and they have two children, a daughter who attends Penn State University and a son who attends Broughton High School.  David, a Raleigh native, has served in numerous leadership roles over the past several years including as President of the Wake County Bar Association, President of Theatre in the Park and he is currently a member of the North Carolina Advocates for Justice Board of Governors.

Dale Stephenson. Dale has been involved in North Carolina’s Mock Trial program since 2016, when she started coaching Broughton High Schools’ mock trial team alongside Chris Nichols. In 2023, their team won the NC State Championship and went on to place 11th at Nationals. In addition to coaching mock trial, Dale has also been a competitor. In law school, Dale’s mock trial team was the first all-women’s team to win a National Competition for Campbell Law. Since graduation, Dale has practiced family law in Cary, NC.

Rebecca Britton– emeritus. Becky Britton is the immediate past president of the NCMTP.  She served as President of the NCMTP from 2018 to 2024 and Vice-President/Treasurer from 2008 to 2018.  Becky has served in all capacities for mock trial since 1992 including juror, attorney advisor, presiding judge, case author, regional and state finals coordinator, and two terms on the National High School Mock Trial Championship Board of Directors. Becky is a 1992 graduate of Campbell Law and worked as a civil litigator in Fayetteville, NC until her semi-retirement and move to western NC in 2022.  She also taught Pretrial Litigation and Advanced Trial Advocacy at Campbell Law. She is Of Counsel with Maginnis Howard and continues to work part-time as a mediator and arbitrator.

Rich Manger. emeritus. Rich was one of the core members of NCAJ, then NCATL, who established the North Carolina Mock Trial Program in 1992.  Rich has been involved in one form or another since the program’s inception, serving as the Regional Coordinator for the High Point competition site, as a committee member for hosting the National Competition in North Carolina in 2005 and again in 2015, long time scoring director, and as an executive committee member of this board – both Secretary and Vice President.   After 31 years of service, Rich became an Emeritus board member, continuing to provide his expertise and support to the program where needed.  A graduate of Wake Forest University and Wake Forest School of Law, Rich has practiced in High Point throughout his career. 

Kevin Bunn. ex officio. Kevin graduated from the University of North Carolina with a Bachelor of Arts in 1986. Kevin received his Master of Public Administration degree from UNC in 1989 and graduated from the UNC School of Law in 1993. Kevin practices law in Cary, North Carolina, focusing on representing injured workers. Kevin has been a Board-Certified Specialist in North Carolina Workers’ Compensation Law since 2013. He is a frequent presenter at workers’ compensation continuing education programs and is a Fellow of the National College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers. Kevin is co-editor of North Carolina Workers’ Compensation Law: A Practical Guide to Success at Every Stage of a Claim (LexisNexis). Kevin is the President of the North Carolina Advocates for Justice. He is a former volunteer Guardian ad Litem for abused and neglected children. He was a Scoutmaster of Troop 346 in Raleigh for many years and is currently on the Board of Directors for the Laurel Ridge Camp, Conference & Retreat Center, a Moravian Church camp. He is a member of Raleigh Moravian Church. For more information please visit:ncworkercomp.com/about-us

James S. “Jimbo” Perry. ex officio. “Jimbo” is the Executive Director of the Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism. Mr. Perry completed his undergraduate degree in Business Administration and obtained a law degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Mr. Perry was an Assistant United States Attorney for 5 years prior to returning to his hometown of Kinston, North Carolina in 1986. He had a general law practice there for 40 years prior to accepting an appointment to work with Mr. Melvin Wright Jr. as the Co-Executive Director of the CJCP in January 2023.