Candidate Biography (submitted by candidate):

I am currently an Appeals Referee with the North Carolina Employment Security Commission and an Adjunct Professor of Law at Mount Olive College, North Carolina Wesleyan College, Kaplan University and Liberty University.

I was admitted to the practice of law in North Carolina, and before the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of North Carolina, in 1993. I practiced law primarily in the areas of real estate transactions, wills, trusts & estates, business and corporate law, and other general civil litigation.

In my 13 years as an Appeals Referee, I have presided over some 13,000 contested case hearings and I have issued as many legal decisions. I have also conducted fraud hearings as a Special Deputy Commissioner. In 2008 I received the Chairman's Award for Outstanding Service in Appeals, and in 2009 I received the Governor's Award for Excellence for "Outstanding Dedication and Commitment to the Citizens and the State of North Carolina."

In my 8 years as an adjunct professor of law, I have taught over 20 different law courses. In order to effectively teach a law course, an instructor must first gain an in depth knowledge of the subject matter and then make a commitment to stay current in the law.

I am a graduate of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill School of Law. While there, I was an award winning member of the Jessup International Moot Court Team. I also worked as an intern with a non-profit organization addressing immigration law matters and as an extern with a law firm researching criminal law matters.

I have been a judge at various moot court and mock trial competitions, and I am currently coach of the Classical Conversations home school mock trial team from Lenoir County.

I am a Christian, Constitutional, Conservative. I believe that the essential role of a judge is to render a just and impartial decision, based on the facts and the law. However, in addition, a judge must be ever mindful of the fact that his decisions are not mere academic exercises, but that they seriously affect the lives of real people. A judge must therefore demonstrate sincere respect and compassion for all those parties who come before him and all those people whose rights and welfare may be impacted by his decisions.

I believe in "judicial humility" as opposed to "judicial arrogance". Judges must always remember that they are public servants, not public masters. I believe in "judicial restraint" as opposed to "judicial activism". Judges have no popular mandate to act as policy makers. Instead, judges should defer to the elected branches of the federal and state governments with respect to policy so long as they stay within the confines of their powers as defined by the U.S. and state constitutions.

I believe that a judge must willing to demonstrate courage. As Gary Haugen wrote in his book Just Courage, "Deep within all of us there is a yearning to be brave.  And like all of our deepest, truest and best yearnings, it comes from how we were made. Courage -- the power to do the right thing even when it is scary and hard -- resonates deeply with the original shape of our soul."

Judges should also be willing be held accountable for each of the decisions they make. As Abraham Lincoln said in his 1862 Annual Message to Congress, "In times like the present, men should utter nothing for which they would not willingly be responsible through time and eternity."