My Education and Career
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After law school, I began active-duty service in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps and was stationed at Fort Cavazos (formerly known as Fort Hood) as well as the Office of The Judge Advocate General in the Pentagon. At Fort Cavazos, I served as Senior Trial Counsel for III Corps where I prosecuted major criminal cases ranging from larceny to sex offenses to murder. While assigned to The Office of the Judge Advocate General, I provided legal advice on a wide range of topics to the Office of the Secretary of the Army, the Army Staff, and The Judge Advocate General, among others.
Upon completion of my active-duty service in 1993 I moved to North Carolina. From 1993 until 2015 I was engaged in the private practice of law in Raleigh. My law practice consisted of construction and commercial litigation as well as providing legal advice to individuals and businesses. I represented clients before the North Carolina Court of Appeals and the District and Superior Courts of the State of North Carolina in addition to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and the United States District Courts for the Eastern, Middle and Western Districts of North Carolina.
In 2015 I was appointed to the Superior Court by Governor Pat McCrory and was elected to that position in 2016. As a Superior Court Judge, I have presided over hundreds of criminal, civil and administrative matters. My experience presiding over civil matters includes contract disputes, personal injury disputes, medical malpractice cases, complex defamation cases, constitutional challenges to various actions of the legislature and the rehabilitation and liquidation of insurance companies. My experience presiding over criminal cases ranges from misdemeanor appeals up to serious felonies including but not limited to larceny, assaults, drug trafficking, sexual abuse and murder.
I am routinely appointed by the Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court to preside over exceptional and complex commercial and constitutional matters. I am also routinely appointed by the Senior Resident Judge of the Tenth Judicial District to preside over complex civil cases.
1LT. Shirley promotion to rank of Captain 1989
My father was a career military officer and I was raised in a military family. My parents instilled in us a sense of family, service, and integrity. After high school, I attended the Virginia Military Institute where I received a B.A. in History with Honors and Distinction in 1985. Upon graduation from VMI, I was commissioned as an officer in the United States Army. I attended law school at the College of William and Mary where upon graduation in 1988, I was inducted into the Order of the Coif in recognition of graduating in the top 10% of my class.
My Family
My wife Kim grew up in Williamsburg, Virginia and attended Wake Forest University. We have been married 36 years. She recently retired as the executive director of Seasons Village, Inc., a non-profit she co-founded that supports single mothers in pursuit of a post-secondary degree or certification that would enable them to earn a livable wage for their families. Together we have twins. Our daughter Sydney and her husband Rob gave us our first two grandchildren, Graham and Winnie. Our son Jeff and his wife Lauren recently blessed us with twin grandsons, Henry and James. My wife and I live in Apex in a historic home that we renovated in 2015. We are members of Christ Church in Raleigh and have been actively involved for the last 30 years.