Eric was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, but spent most of his childhood in Fayetteville, Arkansas. He was a National Merit Scholar at the University of Arkansas, was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and earned his B.A. in political science in 1983. Eric remained at the University of Arkansas for law school, where he was a Leflar Scholar and Managing Editor of the Arkansas Law Review. He earned his J.D., with high honors, in 1986.
An Air Force ROTC Distinguished Graduate, Eric was commissioned in 1983, was an active-duty judge advocate from 1986 until 1993, and then served in the Air Force Reserve until his retirement in 2010. He is a graduate of Squadron Officer School, Air Command and Staff College, and the Air War College. His military assignments included Assistant Staff Judge Advocate at Carswell AFB, Texas; Circuit Trial Counsel at Travis AFB, California; Instructor at the Air Force Judge Advocate General School at Maxwell AFB, Alabama; Appellate Government Counsel at Bolling AFB, District of Columbia, Air Staff Counsel at the Pentagon, and Appellate Military Judge on the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals.
Eric has been an Assistant Federal Public Defender for the Middle District of North Carolina since 1993 and was named First Assistant in 2014. He was a supervising attorney for the Litigation Clinic at Wake Forest University School of Law for 25 years, and an adjunct professor in trial practice at Elon University School of Law for five years. Eric has lectured at federal defender programs in North and South Carolina, and at programs sponsored by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, the North Carolina Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, the National Defense Investigator Association and Wake Forest Law School. He currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Chief Justice Joseph Branch Inn of Court, and previously served as treasurer, vice president and president of the Middle District Chapter of the Federal Bar Association. Eric is admitted to practice in Arkansas, North Carolina, the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals, the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court.
Eric and his wife Dawn, a nurse with Cone Health, have two sons. Seth, his wife Michelle and their children, Hampton and Chesed, live in Massachusetts, where Seth is an engineer at Draper Laboratory. Sam and his wife Jennifer live in Missouri, where Sam is an engineer with Cisco.
Eric and Dawn are members of Westover Church in Greensboro, where Eric serves as an Elder. They love traveling together, especially to visit their grandchildren. In his spare time, Eric is a novice woodworker.
Current as of July 2024.
Company Firm
Federal Public Defender's Office
Firm Mailing
301 N Elm St Ste 410
Greensboro
North Carolina
27401-2187
United States of America
Fellow Since
September 28, 2024
Practice Areas
- Administrative
- Criminal Defense
- Public Defender
Chapter
- North Carolina
Contact Info