​Coaches​

Mirissa McMurray - Coach

Mirissa McMurray has been coaching the team since 2008 as a proud Hillsdale mock trial alum. She works as a family law attorney as partner at McMurray & Samuels, P.C. Mirissa's roots in the non-profit sector bring a breadth of experience and interest to her coaching. She is also a Hillsdale parent and actively volunteers for other organizations.

Arielle Sison - Co-Advisor

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 - Coach

Bernard Shek joined the coaching staff in 2016. He has practiced law for about 30 years, including more than 20 years as a litigation and trial attorney. Bernard currently leads the legal and public affairs teams at a semiconductor company in Silicon Valley.

Gabe Gross - Coach Emeritus

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 - Coach

This is Brenda's 8th 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 the Director of Litigation at Bay Area Legal Aid - the largest provider of free civil legal services in the Bay - where she trains and supports attorneys in litigation and also brings impact litigation to address systemic harms to low-income Californians. Brenda has been litigating cases for 19 years, and previously worked at the Eviction Defense Center, Bay Area Legal Aid, Equal Rights Advocates, and the National Center for Youth Law. Brenda lives in San Francisco with her husband, Coach Springman, their daughter, Olive, and their husky, Erza.

Matt Springman - Advisor/Coach

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, Brenda Adams (see left) and daughter in San Francisco.

Mike Spillner - Coach

Mike Spillner has been a lawyer for more than 25 years, both as a litigation partner at a global law firm and as in-house counsel at tech companies in Silicon Valley. He also has tried criminal jury trials with the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office. Mike attended Stanford Law School, and received his undergraduate degree from UCLA. His daughter is a trial attorney on the team, and his son was previously on the team for four years

Natalie Swetlin - Coach

Natalie Swetlin is a proud alum of the Hillsdale mock trial team. She attended UC Santa Barbara, where she participated in both mock trial and moot court. As a moot court competitor, she won awards at the national level in both oral advocacy and brief writing. Now graduated, Natalie is excited to give back to the program that added so much joy and learning to her high school experience.

Noah Gross - Coach

Noah is an alum of Hillsdale Mock Trial. He attended Pitzer College where he founded and led the Pitzer Mock Trial team. Noah is excited to contribute to the program that played a meaningful role during his time at Hillsdale.