Meet Our Coaches
Henry Leaman - A Team Coach
Henry is an employment attorney working out of Chicago, Illinois. A graduate of Notre Dame law school, Henry joined the coaching staff in 2019 and has served as the program’s Executive Attorney-Coach since 2021. As an undergrad, Henry was President of Miami Ohio’s mock trial program and he finished in the top ten at Nationals twice. He’s also well-known on the circuit for his tournament photography and articulate podcasts.
Sam Hobbs - B Team Coach
Sam is a trial attorney for the City Attorney's Office in Columbus, Ohio. Sam went to law school at Ohio State and undergrad at Miami University. During undergrad, Sam competed with Miami Mock Trial where she had a top-ten finish at nationals and was named an all-american witness. In her spare time Sam enjoys listening to Taylor Swift and being perpetually disappointed by Ohio sports teams.
Katie Lewis and Alex Murray - C Team Coaches
Katie and Alex are ND mock trial alums from the class of 2021. They both competed for four years and earned four ORCS bids, with Alex earning an all-region award as an attorney and Katie earning an all-region award as a witness. They came back to coach the new members of ND mock in 2023 and have loved giving back to a program that gave them so much. Katie currently lives in Chicago working as an IT Consultant for KPMG while Alex lives in Boston and works as a portfolio analyst for a nonprofit education fund.
Simeon Lawrence - A Team Coach
Simeon is originally from Elyria, Ohio, and studied at Northwood University, where he was a football player and mock trial witness (shoutout to Professor Leapheart and Chris Grant!). He currently works in the staffing industry, and is a huge cinema, podcast, and world history buff!
Ceara Mercilliott - B Team Coach
Ceara is currently a third-year law school student at the University of Notre Dame. Not only has she been coaching our program since 2021, but she is also a member of the IP Law Society, Business Legal Forum, and Women's Legal Forum. During her undergrad, she competed nationally on Maryland's mock trial team from 2016-2020, and worked as a Governance, Risk, and Compliance Specialist for IronNet Cybersecurity after graduating college in 2020.
Stephen SCJohnson Jr. - A Team Coach
Stephen 2: Electric Boogaloo is a UCLA Law alum currently working plaintiff side litigation in the kind city of San Diego. An Ohioan patriot with an incurable itch for the fine cuisine of Skyline, Stephen persevered at UCinncinnnati [#gocatsboi] before winning the TBC war in 2019. As a big believer in stush and sleep schedules, Stephen spends rounds writing cryptic codes and slander in his padfolio. Ask him about any of the following: his podcasting passion, the magnificeance of manteaus, and the joys associated with household chores.