Campbell Law’s Reed Ballus ’28 named Outstanding Appellant in N.C. Courts competition

RALEIGH - Campbell Law School rising second-year student Reed Ballus '28 has been named Outstanding Appellant in the North Carolina Appellate Courts Moot Court Competition.

In addition to Ballus, Clinton Jones '28, Veronica Farkas '28, Emily Morales '27 and Katherine Bullard '28 represented Campbell Law in the competition in which the students argued in front of a panel of three volunteer "justices." The lead case this year was B.A. v. Tri County Area Schools.

The annual competition is hosted by the chambers of North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Anita Earls and Justice Allison Riggs and planned by a planning committee consisting of clerks from several chambers. This year, clerks from the chambers of Justice Earls, Justice Trey Allen, Justice Riggs, Chief Judge Chris Dillon and Judge Donna Stroud '85 helped organize the event, said Huma Khursheed, Law Clerk to Justice Riggs.

There were a total of 20 participants from the chambers of Judge Tom Murry '07, Judge Michael Stading '06, Judge Freedman, Judge Stroud, Judge Toby Hampson '02, Justice Allen and Justice Earls. Along with Campbell Law, several other law schools were represented: High Point University, Elon University, the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, Wake Forest University and George Mason University.

Participants argued in front of former and current justices and judges, including:

Former clerks also participated as volunteer judges, including Campbell Law alumna Robyn Sanders '21, a former clerk of Justice Earls. She is currently an associate attorney at Patterson Harkavy LLP.

In addition to Ballus, who is clerking with Judge Stading, the other winners were UNC Law's Logan O'Quinn for Most Outstanding Appellee and S. Claire Perry for Best Advocate. O'Quinn is clerking with Justice Allen and Perry is clerking with Justice Riggs.

2026 Moot Court Competition Organizing Committee

Senior Associate Justice Earls

Associate Justice Riggs

Caroline Tervo, Law Clerk to Justice Earls

Aristotle Jones, Law Clerk to Justice Earls

Dante Jennings, Law Clerk to Judge Stroud

Melissa Zaleski, Administrative Law Clerk to Justice Riggs

Jessica di Lustro, Law Clerk to Justice Riggs

Huma Khursheed, Law Clerk to Justice Riggs

Anna Wakeling, Administrative Law Clerk for Justice Allen

Sydney Scott, Law Clerk for Chief Judge Dillon

Sadie Carpenter-Reese, Events and Special Projects Coordinator at the N.C. Supreme Court

ABOUT CAMPBELL LAW SCHOOL

Since its founding in 1976, Campbell Law has developed lawyers who possess moral conviction, social compassion and professional competence, and who view the law as a calling to serve others. Among its accolades, the school has been recognized by the American Bar Association (ABA) as having the nation's top Professionalism Program and by the American Academy of Trial Lawyers for having the nation's best Trial Advocacy Program. Campbell Law boasts more than 5,000 alumni, who make their home in nearly all 50 states and beyond. In 2026, Campbell Law is celebrating 50 years of graduating legal leaders and 17 years of being located in a state-of-the-art facility in the heart of North Carolina's Capital City.

Lisa Snedeker Writer