Our Team

Richard A. Schwartz

Richard Schwartz received his B.A. from Duke University in 1975, and his J.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1978. He became a member of the North Carolina Bar in 1978. In 1979, after spending time as Vice President and General Counsel for a jazz record company in New York, Mr. Schwartz returned to North Carolina and joined Tharrington, Smith & Hargrove, where he quickly became a partner in 1982. In 1991, Mr. Schwartz opened his own law firm, devoted exclusively to the practice of education law.

Mr. Schwartz has served several terms on the Board of Directors of the North Carolina Council of School Attorneys, in addition to being past-President. He has also served on the Board of Directors of the National Council of School Attorneys. Mr. Schwartz currently serves as Vice Chairman of the North Carolina Council on the Holocaust and on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the Public School Forum of North Carolina. He is a member of the North Carolina Council of School Attorneys, the National Council of School Attorneys, and the Education Law Section of the North Carolina Bar Association and Wake County Bar. In addition, he is the long-time President of the Foundation Board for the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT). Mr. Schwartz is a frequent speaker at the district, state, and national levels on many different topics dealing with education law. He is admitted to all levels of state courts and federal district courts for the Eastern, Middle and Western Districts of North Carolina, the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court.

E. Alexander Grosskurth

Alex joined Schwartz Law in November of 2021. He is a Chapel Hill native and a proud double-Tarheel. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2017 with a B.A. in history and political science. He returned to its law school and received a J.D. in 2021. While at UNC Law, he spent one year as a staff writer on the First Amendment Law Review and two years on the Energy Law Moot Court team. During school, he worked as a research assistant for Professor Michael Gerhardt, interned at Legal Aid of North Carolina in its Concord office, and externed for Judge Lucy Inman of the North Carolina Court of Appeals. He is admitted to practice in the Eastern District and Middle Districts of North Carolina. He is a member of the North Carolina Council of School Attorneys, the National Council of School Attorneys, the National School Attorneys Association, and the Education Law Section of the North Carolina Bar Association.

McKensie G. Skeens

McKensie Skeens graduated from the University of Georgia, cum laude, in 2015 and received her J.D. from Campbell University in 2018. While in law school, Ms. Skeens interned for the Honorable Elizabeth A. McClanahan with the Virginia Supreme Court and with the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts in the Guardian ad Litem program. Ms. Skeens joined Schwartz Law in January 2022, after two years as Assistant General Counsel for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. She serves as a member of the Executive Committee of the North Carolina Council of School Attorneys and is a member of the North Carolina Council of School Attorneys, the National Council of School Attorneys, the National School Attorneys Association, and the Education Law Section of the North Carolina Bar Association. She was named to North Carolina Super Lawyers, “Rising Stars” (2024 and 2025).

Ashlea White

Ashlea was born and raised in Raleigh. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from North Carolina State University in three years, with a double major in Political Science and Spanish Language and Literature and received her J.D. from Campbell University in 2021 on the Dean’s Academic Excellence Scholarship. While in law school, Ashlea interned for the Wake County Public Defender’s Office and the United States Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, in addition to being a Teaching Assistant for Professor Bobbi Jo Boyd. She joined Schwartz Law in August of 2022 and is a member of the North Carolina Council of School Attorneys, the National Council of School Attorneys, the National School Attorneys Association, and the Education Law Section of the North Carolina Bar Association. Ashlea is a Title IX certified Investigator, Coordinator and Decision-Maker.

Johnell Daye, III

Johnell Daye, III, graduated from High Point University in 2017 with a B.A. in Communication and received his J.D. from North Carolina Central University (NCCU) School of Law in 2020. While in law school, Mr. Daye interned as a Law Clerk for the now Honorable Chief Administrative Judge Regina N. Stephens of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Additionally, during law school, Mr. Daye interned with Disability Rights of North Carolina and the City Attorney’s Office for the City of Winston-Salem. He also served one year as a Staff Editor and another year as the Executive Editor for the Science and Intellectual Property Law Review at NCCU School of Law. Mr. Daye spent a year on NCCU’s Trademark Moot Court Board, thenserved as the Vice-Chairperson for Inter-School Competitions for NCCU’s Moot Court Board during his final year of law school.

After law school, Mr. Daye worked for Legal Aid of North Carolina, Inc. as a W.C. Dawson Fellow, Staff Attorney, and Supervising Attorney. In 2022, Mr. Daye graduated from the University of Kansas School of Law with an M.S. in Homeland Security Law and Policy. In April 2023, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services appointed Mr. Daye to serve a three-year term on a Human Rights Committee. He is a member of the North Carolina Council of School Attorneys, the National Council of School Attorneys, the National School Attorneys Association, and the North Carolina Bar Association’s Education Law Section and Privacy and Data Security Section. For the 2024-2025 year, the North Carolina Bar Association reappointed him to both the Future of the Law Committee and the Minorities in the Profession Committee. Mr. Daye is admitted to practice in the Eastern District and Middle District of North Carolina, and he is a certified Title IX Coordinator, Investigator, and Decision-Maker.

Christina Hayes

Christina is a native of Kinston, North Carolina. She received her B.A. from North Carolina State University in 2005, and her J.D. from Florida Coastal School of Law in 2009. She became a member of the North Carolina Bar in 2009. In 2010, after spending time as a volunteer for Legal Aid of North Carolina, Christina joined the North Carolina Department of Justice, working in the Attorney General’s Officein the Tort Claims Section and Education Section.

Christina has extensive experience representing the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and local boards of education, The University of North Carolina, its constituent institutions and affiliates, and other departments, institutions and agencies of the State in matters arising under the State Tort Claims Act. As a Special Deputy Attorney General, Christina represented the local boards of education and certain of their employees named in legal actions related to the operation of school buses and school transportation service vehicles brought pursuant to the Tort Claims Act and Defense of State Employees Act. Christina has litigated in the North Carolina Industrial Commission, the Office of Administrative Hearings, and in state and federal courts.

In 2020, Christina took on the role of Appeals Referee with the North Carolina Department of Commerce, Division of Employment Security, conducting quasi-judicial evidentiary hearings of contested claims for unemployment benefits, fraud, and relief of benefit charges. She transitioned to private practice in 2021, joining United Title Company as a Title Insurance Attorney. Christina has been a licensed title insurance underwriter since 2005 and worked as a licensed underwriter for Investors Title Insurance Company prior to attending law school.

Christina joined Schwartz Law in December of 2023 and is a member of the North Carolina Council of School Attorneys, the National Council of School Attorneys, the National School Attorneys Association, and the Education Law and Real Property Sections of the North Carolina Bar Association.

Jennifer Blue

A native North Carolinian, Jennifer is a proud product of North Carolina’s public schools. After graduating from Terry Sanford High School in Fayetteville, Jennifer excelled at the University of Georgia where she earned her B.A. in English, magna cum laude, and was elected a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. She minored in French and Environmental Ethics and spent a semester at Oxford University. Jennifer received her J.D. from North Carolina Central University School of Law in 2006.

Jennifer began her legal career as an Associate Attorney at the Raleigh firm of Smith Debnam and later served as an Assistant District Attorney in Cumberland County. She opened her own law firm to practice criminal defense and provide political consulting services. Jennifer then returned to Raleigh as a Staff Attorney at North Carolina Prisoner Legal Services, working to protect the constitutional rights of prison inmates, litigating post-conviction cases and serving as Grant Director for The Safe and Humane Jails Project. She is a graduate of the North Carolina Bar Association’s Leadership Academy (2015).

Accomplishing a lifelong professional goal, Jennifer went on to earn a Master’s Degree in Teachingfrom North Carolina State University in 2019. She taught English as a Second Language (ESL) in the Wake County Public School System for five years before deciding to practice education law. Jennifer joined Schwartz Law in 2024 and is admitted to all North Carolina state courts, the United States District Courts for the Eastern, Middle, and Western Districts of North Carolina, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Jennifer is a member of the National School Attorneys Association where she serves on the Special Education Committee. She is also a member of the North Carolina Council of School Attorneys, the Education Law section of the North Carolina Bar Association, and the Wake County Bar Association. She is certified as a Title IX Coordinator and Investigator.

Law Firm Administrator Paralegal

Jenny Schwartz

Jenny Schwartz received her B.A. in American Studies with a pre-law concentration from Meredith College in 1990. She completed the Paralegal Program at Meredith College in 1990 and is a North Carolina State Bar Certified Paralegal. After spending time working in large law firms in Boston and Washington, D.C., Ms. Schwartz joined the firm in 1993. She serves as both the Paralegal for the firm and the Law Firm Administrator.

Jenny is the proud mother of Ellie, her black lab.

Assistant Office Manager

Pamela Brown Sheba

Pamela Brown Sheba serves as Schwartz Law’s Assistant Office Manager. Prior to joining the firm in February of 2020, Pamela spent 18 years working as an Administrative Assistant for the Detective Bureau in the Wayne, New Jersey Police Department. Prior to that, she worked for numerous years at the Public Defender’s Office as a Legal Secretary for the Juvenile Department, as well as an Administrative Court Clerk for Superior Court. She loves volunteering her time and getting involved with various charities, including Community Policing, RAD (Rape Aggression Defense) and Special Olympics. She moved to Raleigh from Clifton, New Jersey to be closer to family and enjoys spending time with loved ones. She is the proud mother of two sons, Mazi and Adeem.

Legal Administrative Assistant

Cynthia McDade

Cynthia McDade received her A.A. in Legal Secretarial Science from LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City, New York. Ms. McDade has over 25 years of legal experience working in some of New York City’s largest and most prestigious law firms as a legal assistant, word processor, and technical trainer. She joined the firm in 2015 as a legal assistant.

Legal Administrative Assistant

Avery Griffin

Avery graduated from Tennessee Technological University in 2017 with a B.S. in Sociology and a focus on Criminal Justice. He moved to Massachusettsin 2019. During that time,he attended one year of law school at New England Law | Boston and worked as an Administrative Legal Assistant at an intellectual property law firm. Avery moved to North Carolina in 2023, and later joined the Schwartz Law team as a Legal Administrative Assistant. In addition to expanding his knowledge and understanding of the legal word, Avery’s hobbies include golfing, kayaking, and spending time with his golden retriever, Dewy.