Head Coaches:
Head Coach: Christopher Doran, Esq. (J.D.)
This is Chris Doran’s eleventh year coaching for ASU. During this time, the program has advanced out of Regionals every year except one, and has advanced to Nationals twice. Before becoming a coach, Chris competed in collegiate mock trial for all four years of college with Arizona State University. Chris went on to college at ASU’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, where he continued to compete in internal and external moot court, mediation, and mock trial competitions. Chris graduated from law school with various 1st place victories, a member of the exclusive Order of the Barristers, and as the top moot court / mock trial law student of his graduating class by receiving the Janet S. Mueller Oral Advocacy Award.
Chris’s passion is in the courtroom, and speaking up for those who need a voice. Mr. Doran is a licensed attorney in Arizona at his own law firm, Doran Justice, PLLC. He primarily handles criminal defense felony and misdemeanor cases, but he also practices in the areas of personal injury and family law. He is a strong believer in effective trial advocacy techniques and staying active with volunteer (pro bono) work. Chris recognizes that he (and many of us) are extremely fortunate for many of our blessings, and it is a moral duty to help others by giving back to the community. Specifically, Mr. Doran has a soft spot in his heart for the homeless community and collegiate mock trial. When he is not on the clock, he volunteers his time providing free legal services at homeless shelters to individuals in need and coaching Arizona State University’s Sun Devil Mock Trial Team.
Aside from his passion, Chris traces the groundwork of his many successes back to his participation in collegiate undergraduate mock trial with Sun Devil Mock Trial. Chris was a captain and a leader in the program, earning individual lawyer awards, witness awards, team awards, and awards for professionalism and integrity. More importantly, undergraduate mock trial taught him effective trial advocacy techniques; it took his public speaking to new levels; and it gave him a strong grasp of the Rules of Evidence used at trial. These skills serve as some of his greatest advantages over his opponents in the courtroom. Thus, being able to coach this program is an honor for him because he loves seeing his students transform from nervous public speakers to legal titans in the courtroom. Through his coaching, Chris teaches the philosophy of “Competition, Character, Community, and Communication”. Not only does he aim for the program to be competitive, but he teaches his students to embody good character traits by being good people and he strongly encourages his students to give back to their community in any way that they can, all while communicating effectively with one another.
Head Coach: Tyler Schwenke (Candidate for J.D.)
Tyler Schwenke was previously a law student at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University. Before coming to ASU, Tyler attended the University of Arizona where he earned a degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology with a minor in Philosophy. While pursuing his undergraduate degree, Tyler competed with the University of Arizona Mock Trial team and discovered his passion for being in the courtroom. Tyler’s time in mock trial took him all over the country, competing in tournaments from Los Angeles to Chicago to Washington D.C.
After graduating from the University of Arizona in 2016 and starting law school in Phoenix, Tyler began volunteering as a coach for Sun Devil Mock Trial. Aside of school and coaching, Tyler used to compete in mock trial with the Student Trial Advocacy Team at Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. Tyler has also practices law a local criminal defense firm in Phoenix. This is Tyler’s seventh year coaching Sun Devil Mock Trial and he’s excited to get to work!
“When a team outgrows individual performance and learns team confidence, excellence becomes reality” – Joe Paterno
aSSISTANT coaches:
Assistant Coach: Dana Brudvig
Dana joined the SDMT coaching staff in Fall 2019. As a rookie coach, her Spring 2020 team—which consisted of seven first-year competitors and two returners—earned a second-place finish at Regionals, thereby securing an ORCs berth for SDMT. In Spring 2021, Dana co-coached a team that received an honorable mention at ORCs. She continues her coaching success in Spring 2022, co-coaching yet another team to receive a bid to ORCS.
Dana was born and raised in Wisconsin. She graduated magna cum laude from the University of Minnesota with a B.A. in Philosophy and a B.M. in Music Performance (Opera). She then attended the University of Wisconsin Law School, where she fell in love with The Bluebook as a law review editor, and also competed in mock trial and moot court. Since graduating from law school in 2015, Dana has worked as an attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice.
After law school, Dana lived and worked in Miami, Florida for two years before moving to Arizona in 2017. Dana now lives in Tempe with her 4 best friends—2 rescue pit bulls, 1 cat, and her husband. Her hobbies include running, playing Red Dead Redemption 2, listening to nonfiction audiobooks, and learning how to xeriscape her yard.
“Spaceships don’t come equipped with rearview mirrors.” André Lauren Benjamin
Assistant Coach: Edward Joseph Nolan
Edward is a five-year alumnus of SDMT and currently in his third year as an assistant coach. He now works as a regulatory compliance officer and clinical study manager for a molecular microbiology pharmacogenomics laboratory. During his time at ASU, he pursued degrees in Biological Science and Political Science, with a certificate in International Studies. Throughout his time with SDMT, he served one term as treasurer and two terms as president.
“You died a good death if your life had inspired someone to come forward and shoot your murderer–without asking to be paid” – China Achebe from /Man of the People/
Assistant Coach: Madison Van Natter
Madison is in her second year of coaching for SDMT and is currently a 2L at ASU’s Law School. Previously, she was a mocker at Michigan State University winning several individual and team awards over her four years of competition. Madison also started the Undergraduate Moot Court Team for Michigan State which she competed in and helped teach at. She is working hard to keep up those passions through coaching, and she has been very successful in her endeavors in law school and beyond!
“There is hardly a political question in the United States which does not sooner or later turn into a judicial one.” – Alexis de Tocqueville
Assistant Coach: Chris Shanley
Chris is a second-year coach and a 2L at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at ASU. Chris competed in mock trial at Michigan State, helping his teams get to ORCS in both years of competition, and also competed in moot court, where he placed 20th in the nation during the 2019-2020 season. During his gap year, he worked for a law firm in Lansing, MI as a paralegal preparing briefs and motions for family law appeals. Chris is a huge Michigan State basketball fan and firmly believes the Spartans would have won the 2020 National Championship if not for the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I don’t have dreams, I have goals.” -Harvey Specter, Suits
Assistant Coach: Asha Mahajani
Asha is a first-year coach and a 4-year alumnus of SDMT. She currently works as a process engineer in Chandler, AZ. This year, Asha looks forward to building up everyone’s skill levels and getting to Nationals!
Assistant Coach: Parker dippel
Parker is returning coach and a 2L at Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at ASU. This year as a coach he hopes to utilize legal and performative real-world tools so that students can advance to the next stage of competition and become zealous advocates for the issues they wish to pursue after graduation.
Assistant Coach: Andy Burnquist
Andy is a third-year coach, a 3L at UCLA Law, and an SDMT alumnus. His vision for SDMT this year is to “win it all”!
Sun Devil Mock Trial 