Emily Shapiro
Director of Operations
Emily Shapiro J.D. is an Empire alum, coach, and blue shirt.
Emily grew up on the beaches of Jacksonville, Florida and attended Fletcher High School, where she first fell in love with mock trial as a 12-year-old watching her big sister Katie in trial. Once she hit high school, Emily got straight into the courtroom, where she became friends with her coach Amber Rumancik. Together with teacher and coach Ed Lange, Amber introduced Emily to the law and paved the way for her future. As the teams designated opener, Emily led the Senators of Fletcher High School to the Florida State Championship in her senior year, and competed in the National High School Mock Trial Championships in Boise, Idaho.
Emily attended Florida State University for her undergraduate degree, majoring in international relations and competing on the FSU mock trial team for many years. While suffering through some of the darker years of the FSU Football team’s history, she took on leadership roles in the Seminole’s mock trial program and helped to found the FSU Invitational for high school teams, directing the tournament in its inaugural year.
After spending the first 21 years of her life in the Sunshine State, Emily moved to the Big Apple for law school, gaining her Juris Doctor from the City University of New York with a focus on criminal justice. A highlight of her law school experience (in addition to the copious amounts of Greek food in her Queens neighborhood) was an internship at Day One New York, where she represented young people who were victims of dating violence, gaining protective orders against perpetrators of dating violence and abusive relationships.
While in Law School, Emily reconnected with Empire and took on a blue shirt lead role in 2021 for the cyberspace season, as well as the return to in-person mock trial in late November for the Nicholson v Chronicle Tides case. In 2022, she stepped into a program coordinator role and helped bring to life the competitions in Baltimore and Chicago on the logistical front.
Since graduating, Emily served as a public defender in the county courts in her home city of Jacksonville, Florida.
Stepping into Director of Operations role, Emily is excited to lead Empire into a new chapter in its history expand Empire beyond its current competition schedule and increase the accessibility of the Empire program to new and less advantaged schools. She is hoping to foster a community that brings together young people as they plan for their futures, connecting them with pathways beyond the courtroom towards a better future.
