​Coaches​

Mirissa McMurray - Coach

Arielle Sison - Co-Advisor

Bernard Shek - Coach

Gabe Gross - Coach

Brenda Adams - Coach

Matt Springman - Advisor/Coach

Mike Spillner - Coach

Mirissa McMurray

Coming Soon.

Arielle Sison

Arielle Sison has been campus co-advisor since 2019-2020, having been lured in (willingly and enthusiastically) by her students in Kyoto house.  She is starting her 4th year as a World History teacher at Hillsdale and is looking forward to being a part of such an impressive and dedicated group here on campus.

Bernard Shek

Bernard Shek has been a mock trial coach at Hillsdale since 2016. He has more than 25 years of experience as a litigation and trial attorney. Bernard currently serves as in-house counsel for a semiconductor company. He and his wife are proud Hillsdale parents with a current HHS student and two HHS graduates.

Gabe Gross

Gabe is a veteran business trial lawyer who is in his second year helping coach the Hillsdale Mock Trial team. Gabe loves working with and teaching young lawyers, law students, and high school students the art of effective advocacy. In addition to his regular law practice, Gabe represents pro bono clients in immigration and asylum matters, civil rights cases, and landlord/tenant disputes. Gabe and his wife are the proud parents of two Hillsdale graduates in the classes of 2020 and 2023.

Brenda Adams

This is Brenda's sixth year coaching the mock trial team. Brenda works primarily with the JV trial attorneys, helping them learn the fundamentals of evidence and overcome imposter syndrome, fear, and anxiety. Brenda is a civil rights attorney at a nonprofit organization called the National Center for Youth Law, where she litigates to advance the rights of system-involved children and youth, with a particular focus on LGBTQI+ youth in education and child welfare. Brenda has been litigating cases for over 16 years, and previously worked at the Eviction Defense Center, Bay Area Legal Aid, and Equal Rights Advocates. Brenda lives in San Francisco with her husband, Coach Springman, their daughter, Olive (who is often seen sneaking chips and cookies at practice), and their three-legged dog, Lucy.

Matt Springman

Matt Springman has been the co-advisor and coach for the team since 2015.  He also teaches History at Hillsdale in Kyoto house.  Before becoming a teacher, he was an attorney in San Francisco for seven years, litigating civil rights cases, mostly police excessive force and First Amendment.  Matt lives with his wife and daughter in San Francisco and also has a 3-legged dog (the same one as Brenda Adams).

Mike Spillner

​Mike Spillner has been a lawyer for nearly 25 years, both as a litigation partner at a global law firm and as in-house counsel at a technology company in Silicon Valley. He also tried cases with the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office. Mike attended Stanford Law School and UCLA. His son is a senior at Hillsdale and a trial lawyer on the team, and his daughter is in middle school and interested in joining the team in a couple of years.