MAST LAW FIRM - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- ASSOCIATE
- ATTORNEY
- TRIAL LAWYER
Caroline joined the Mast Law Firm in 2021, after working as a summer law clerk at the firm while she was in law school. Since joining the firm, Caroline's practice focuses primarily on workers' compensation, personal injury, and medical malpractice.
Caroline completed her undergraduate studies in political science at East Carolina University where she graduated Cum Laude. She then attended law school at Campbell University's Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude.
Caroline is a life-long resident of Smithfield, North Carolina and currently lives in a house that was built by her great-grandfather. Outside of work, Caroline enjoys spending time with her two horses, Henry and Andrew.
Charles Mast is the eldest of George Mast's five children. He has three younger sisters, who live in Cary, Four Oaks and Wilmington, and had a younger brother who died of cancer at the age of seven. Charles was born at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri in 1961, while George was in the United States Army Judge Advocate General Corps. Charles' mother was born in Boone, NC, and her grandfather was a doctor who lived and practiced medicine in what is now known as the Daniel Boone Inn family style restaurant. Charles never got the opportunity to grow up in the mountains like his parents did; instead, Charles landed in Smithfield, along with the remainder of his family, at the tender age of one. Charles grew up in Smithfield, was educated by the Johnston County school system, and graduated from Smithfield-Selma Senior High School in 1979. He went to Wake Forest University, where he jointly majored in both business and math. He also obtained his law degree from Wake Forest University in 1987 and has been and will continue to be a lifelong Demon Deacon.
Charles is married to his wonderful wife, Kathy, who teaches school at Four Oaks Elementary. Kathy is also a 1979 graduate of Smithfield-Selma High School. Ironically, Charles and Kathy did not know each other in high school and first met at their five-year high school reunion, after Kathy graduated from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. They have lived in Smithfield since they were married in 1986. They have two children: Cameron, a 2013 graduate of Meredith College, and Taylor, a 2016 graduate of North Carolina State University.
Family and close friends are the most important things to Charles and Kathy. Charles loves the outdoors and everything that North Carolina has to offer, from hiking and riding horses in the mountains to enjoying our crystal coast. When he has time to relax, you will usually find him with his family and friends on the golf course or near the water.
Charles has over thirty years of experience representing people injured or killed in automobile accidents, at work, and as a result of medical negligence. He is a past President of the Johnston County Bar Association, as well as a member of the North Carolina Advocates for Justice, the North Carolina Bar Association, and the North Carolina State Bar. He is a passionate advocate for individual rights and unwaveringly seeks justice for those individuals unfairly injured or wronged by others. He has been the managing partner of the Mast Law Firm since 1997.
Clint joined the Mast Law Firm in 2017, becoming the third generation of Masts to work at the firm. Since joining the firm, Clint has dedicated his practice to guiding clients through the most stressful times of their lives. He prides himself on treating his clients with respect, courtesy, and compassion while he zealously advocates for their best interests. Clint's practice focuses primarily on family law, criminal law, and personal injury. However, he prides himself on his flexibility to help his clients with any situation life throws at them.
Clint completed his undergraduate studies in political science at N.C. State University where he graduated Summa Cum Laude. He then graduated law school from Wake Forest, where he received various scholarships, awards, and honors. During law school, Clint had internships with several environmental non-profits, the Yadkin Riverkeeper Association and Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).
Clint is a life-long native of North Carolina. Clint currently lives near 40/42 with his wife, child, and two rescue dogs. When out of the office, Clint enjoys kayaking, fishing, hiking, and all things outdoors. He and his family can be found exploring all the beautiful and unique places North Carolina has to offer.
Clint is a life-long native of North Carolina. He was born and raised in Mocksville, North Carolina, a small town twenty minutes west of Winston-Salem. Clint's grandfather, Pat Mast, Jr., was the inspiration for Clint's decision to become an attorney. Clint was always drawn to the way his grandfather was able to use his voice as an attorney to others.…
Ephriam grew up outside of a small rural town in south central Virginia on the shores of Kerr Lake. His mother's side of the family is from North Carolina, and he has spent many holidays in the cities of Durham, Raleigh, and Rocky Mount. From a young age, Ephriam spent his summers working in the tobacco fields and his winters tending to the cattle herd on his family's farm. He continued to work on his family's farm during his summer and winter breaks throughout middle school, high school, and his tenure at the University of Virginia located in Charlottesville, VA. During his college years, Ephriam arrived at the conclusion that he was most suited to practice law from the experience and knowledge he gained in his chosen fields of study.
Ephriam continued his graduate education at the Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law at Campbell University, in Raleigh, North Carolina. While buried among law books and squirreled away for countless hours in the law library, Ephriam managed to meet his future wife who was also a student at Campbell University. During law school, Ephriam was active in various organizations within the law school, including serving as the Comments Editor on the Campbell Law Review, serving as an Associate Justice on the school's Honor Court, and competing in the National Appellate Advocacy Competition held in New York City. In the summer between his second and third years in law school, Ephriam came to work with the Mast Law Firm as a young law clerk and had the opportunity to participate in his first civil jury trial at a very early stage in his legal career.
Ephriam formally joined the firm after successfully passing the North Carolina Bar Exam in 2010. As a young attorney, he voluntarily joined the ranks of Johnston County's privately assigned counsel who represent indigent clients and represented court-appointed clients in Criminal Court, Child Support Court, and DSS Court.
Currently, Ephriam practices within several areas of law. He has successfully defended DWI/DUI and other criminal cases, and he has litigated various civil suits, ranging from small claims cases over damage to property to complicated, contract litigation. Ephriam is also experienced in the area of family law, including drafting separation agreements, filing divorce actions, and pursuing claims for custody and child support. He has handled appeals before North Carolina's Court of Appeals and Supreme Court. Over the years, Ephriam has expanded his practice to include federal litigation and claims originating from the Commonwealth of Virginia. He has handled countless trials and hearings, in both civil and criminal courts. Due to his extensive day-to-day activities in the courthouse, Ephriam works out of our Smithfield location.
Ephriam is active in the local Johnston County Bar Association which provides various services for the community. He has routinely participated in the annual "Ask-A-Lawyer" program which is hosted every year at the Johnston County Courthouse in Smithfield. Ephriam also has a history of donating his trial experience on a pro bono basis to Legal Aid of North Carolina in domestic violence cases.
Ephriam lives in the Flowers Plantation area of Clayton, NC with his lovely wife, Sarah, and his adorable daughter, Palmer. In his free time, Ephriam can be found scuba diving in the Atlantic, training for his next half marathon, wakeboarding on Kerr Lake, or embarrassing himself on the golf course.
George grew up on a farm in western Watauga County on Mast Gap Road, which runs between Sugar Grove and Valle Crucis, on property which has been in the Mast Family since 1778. His parents, Dave and Grace Mast, who were educators in their early careers having graduated from the University of North Carolina and Meredith College, raised George and his three brothers, Pat, Mack and Bill on the farm. They basically lived off what they produced on the farm. Raising tobacco, beans, corn, white-faced cattle, chickens and hogs, they were able to subsist on what they produced.
There were many chores necessary to maintain the farm-milking the cows both morning and night, feeding the horses, cows and hogs. Summers were busy times pulling mullen, cutting thistles, and putting up hay and corn for the cows and horses in the winter. The mountains were prolific in apples, cherries (both white and black), strawberries, blackberries and mulberries. In that there was no method to freeze produce during the early years of George's life, much of the food was canned during the summer to be used throughout the year. Apples and potatoes were stored in a cellar and the milk produced by the cows, both morning and night, was put in large steel cans in a spring house for consumption and sale.
Winters in the mountains were generally very cold with lots of snow. George and his brothers, Pat, Mack and Bill, were very active in sports. During the summer, they spent many hours after work swimming at the Watauga River or on the clay tennis court at Cove Creek. Swimming holes, tennis courts, school and church were the primary social venues for the Mast boys.
George was an all-tournament basketball player in the three counties of Avery, Ashe and Watauga his junior and senior years at Cove Creek High School, with his team winning all of the regular season games. After graduation from Cove Creek High School, George attended Wake Forest College when it was located in Wake Forest for two years, and then in Winston-Salem when it moved to Winston-Salem in 1956. After graduating from high school and entering Wake Forest College at Wake Forest, North Carolina, it was decided to combine college with law school. After three years, George entered Wake Forest Law School on what was known as the three and three career program-three years of undergraduate and three years of law school.
During law school, he returned to the mountains during the summers to work at Tweetsie Railroad. He was one of first five Indians to perform at Tweetsie Railroad, and at the same time, he was a janitor for the Horn in the West Production and an Indian dancer at Horn in the West.
In the late 1950s, while at law school, George was guided by several exciting and motivating professors, Dean Carroll W. Weathers, Robert E. Lee, James Sizemore, James A. Webster, and Norman Adrian Wiggins. Following graduation from law school, George entered the U.S. Army as an attorney in the Judge Advocate General's Corps. After attending the Judge Advocate General's School in Charlottesville, Virginia, at the University of Virginia, George served at Fort Bragg and Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, where he did extensive trial work in general courts-martial. In October in 1962, he completed his tour of duty with the U.S. Army as a Captain.
Having had extensive trial experience while in the military service, George entered the practice of law with Robert A. Spence in 1962 in Smithfield. During the 1960s while practicing in a small town, one did all types of work, and for several years George represented clients in criminal matters, estate planning, real estate transactions, and all types of litigation. Therefore, throughout George's legal career, he has been engaged in almost all types of legal issues.
George has been substantially involved in community activities over the many years, having served as Chairman of the Department of Social Services and active in the Junior Chamber of Commerce; he has been actively involved in politics and started a local bank, Peoples National Bank, which eventually merged with BB&T, and he has been significantly involved in pro-bono matters with Legal Services and the North Carolina Bar Association. George has served in many capacities with the North Carolina Bar Association, serving as Chairman of the Litigation Section and President of the North Carolina Bar Association in 1990-1991. Early in his career, George was actively involved with the First Baptist Church of Smithfield, having served as a Deacon for sixteen years. Over the years, George has been an avid supporter of Wake Forest University and the Wake Forest University Law School, establishing the Carroll W. Weathers Scholarship for the Law School and the George B. Mast, Jr. Memorial Scholarship for Wake Forest University. George has served as a Trustee for Wake Forest University and is a Trustee Emeritus.
George enjoys both the beach and mountains, visiting both of those regularly on weekends or holidays. George is married to Gayle Fitz, formerly of Chadbourn, North Carolina, and has two children who are lawyers-Charles who practices with the Mast Firm, and Christa who is an Assistant District Attorney in New Hanover County. Much of George's free time is spent with his five children and nine grandchildren in Smithfield, Wrightsville Beach, or the mountains.
George continues to be very actively involved in all types of legal representation, including estate planning, real estate transactions, and all types of civil litigation.
George B. Mast founded Mast Law Firm in 1962, and over time, many attorneys across eastern North Carolina and beyond have trained and fine-tuned their skills at the firm.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Paralegals & Staff
- RECEPTIONIST / PARALEGAL
Jamie was born and raised in Johnston County and grew up, as many children in Johnston County did, working in a tobacco field. She is a 1987 graduate of Smithfield-Selma Senior High School. Prior to becoming a paralegal, Jamie worked with Commercial Credit Corporation and BB&T as a customer service representative. She began her paralegal career in 1998, working for several law firms in Johnston County. Jamie arrived at the Mast Law Firm in 2001. She regularly assists attorneys and clients with personal injury claims, criminal and traffic matters in addition to her receptionist duties at our Smithfield location.
Jamie and her husband, John, reside in Kenly. They have 3 children and one very spoiled beagle. Jamie and her husband attend Hope Church in Clayton. In her spare time, Jamie enjoys perusing biographies of notable persons, relaxing by the pool, and spending her time appreciating the great outdoors.
Although Lily was born into the bustling big-city life of San Francisco, California, she enjoys her full share of local North Carolina food, culture, and southern hospitality. In fact, Lily spent the better part of her childhood growing up in the outskirts of Charlotte, North Carolina. During her teenage years in the Queen City, Lily received a phone call that her grandmother living in California had fallen ill with Alzheimer's disease. Although she first found it humorous that her 85 year-old grandmother had nonchalantly rented out her doghouse to local homeless men, grandma's health situation quickly became dire. In response, Lily and her father squeezed themselves into his Mini Cooper, and drove the 10-day journey across America and back, eventually bringing Grandma back to their home in North Carolina to live. It was this experience that first spurned Lily's fascination with the enigmatic "Law," as well as the urgent need for advocacy in today's justice system.
After graduating from Northwest School of the Arts High School, Lily left her dream of becoming a professional ballerina behind and, instead, pursued an academic career in political science. As a recipient of the Lew and Edie Wasserman Scholarship, Lily was able to attend the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill for her Bachelor's degree. In 2009, Lily proudly graduated with a Bachelors of Arts in Political Science and as a member of the Pi Sigma Alpha National Political Science Honor Society. It was at North Carolina, where Lily met her hilarious and handsome husband John "Chad" Tuttle. As a son of a prominent attorney from Kannapolis, North Carolina, Marler Slate Tuttle Jr., Chad jokes that he vowed to never be an attorney, but to simply marry one instead. In December of 2013, he married his soon-to-be attorney fiancée in a small wedding in the French Quarter neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana, from a balcony window overlooking the legendary Bourbon street.
While Lily attended North Carolina, she paid her bills by juggling several waitressing, bartending, and hospitality jobs, which left her with invaluable people skills. After a year of saving up for law school, however, Lily was overjoyed to leave her restaurant days behind when, in 2011, she was accepted to attend the Campbell University School of Law in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina.
During law school, Lily was active in several student organizations including the Campbell Law Review, Campbell Moot Court Competition Teams, and the Campbell Law Innocence Project. Lily's various obligations included her service as the Campbell Law Review's Volume 36 Comments Editor and Solicitation Board Member, and as a staff member of Campbell Law's Innocence Project, where she researched and presented assessments of innocence claims made by North Carolina prisoners serving time for wrongful felony convictions. After rivaling her way to the final round of the 2012 Richard A. Lord Intramural Moot Court Competition, finishing Second Place overall, she was invited to audition for Campbell's Moot Court Competition Teams. In the spring of 2013, Lily traveled to Washington, D.C., for the ABA National Appellate Advocacy Competition Moot Court Competition, where she challenged teams across the country before federal judges and attorneys, and was awarded Campbell's highest advocacy score. Later in the fall of 2013, Lily also traveled to Macon, Georgia, to compete in the National Legal Ethics & Professionalism Moot Court Competition, where she received two perfect oral advocacy scores, as well as Campbell's highest advocacy score.
While studying at Campbell, Lily was also honored to receive "Book Awards" for several classes (the achievement of receiving the highest individual grade for the curriculum out of all fellow classmates), for Client Counseling, Professional Responsibility and Ethics, and Professional Skills in Writing. In May of 2014, Lily was commemorated at Campbell's graduation with an Award for Excellence in Lawyering Skills and induction into the Old Kivett Advocacy Council, and an Award for Outstanding Achievement from the Campbell Law Review Volume 36. You may find Lily's most recently published work in Campbell Law Review's Volume 36 Symposium edition, titled: North Carolina's Wary Reception of Drug Treatment Court: The Myth of Inherent Ethics Violations Within Its Structure, 35 CAMPBELL L. REV. 367 (2013).
In between the summer of her first and second years at law school, Lily worked for the Honorable Chief District Court Judge of Orange County Joseph Buckner, and Honorable District Court Judge of Orange County James Bryan. During this summer, Lily gained incredible legal experience by assisting Judge Bryan with a five-day non-parent custody proceeding, as well as enjoyed daily direct involvement with DSS, Domestic Violence, Drug Treatment and Family Treatment Court, under the supervision of Judge Buckner.
During the second summer of Lily's law school career, she was fortunate enough to work as a legal intern at Mast Law Firm. Here, she participated as first chair in multiple civil and criminal bench trials, addressed the North Carolina Industrial Commission, presented oral motions for divorce proceedings, and represented clients daily in domestic violence, criminal, civil, and disposition court. She also learned the skills and techniques inherent in drafting successful legal documents, including complaints, discovery requests, motions pertaining to pre-trial and discovery issues, subpoenas, and exhibits for trial.
As Lily began her third and final year at Campbell Law School, she continued to work as a research assistant for the firm, in addition to embarking on an externship at the Wake County Public Defenders Office. Under the tutelage of respected Assistant Public Defender Carolyn Hair, she spent her time in the courtroom representing 20-50 criminal clients daily in Misdemeanor Criminal Court, Domestic Violence Court, and Superior Court, as well as occasionally defending clients against lifetime satellite-based monitoring. The diligent and demanding representation required of her externship included conducting one-on-one initial client meetings, individually interviewing clients, witnesses, and police officers during court sessions, as well as negotiating daily misdemeanor plea deals with Wake County Assistant District Attorneys.
Lily joined the firm after successfully passing the North Carolina Bar Exam in 2014. She is overjoyed to be working with such a genuine, well-respected, and hard-working group of people at Mast Law Firm. Armed with a solid foundation in legal writing and research, an extensive set of people skills, and a passion for litigating in the courtroom, Lily is excited to expand her field of practice. Lily looks forward to further exploring the areas of criminal, civil and family law litigation, where a strong legal foundation and interest already lies.
Lily and her husband Chad now reside in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina. In her free time, Lily can be found playing golf with her husband, hiking, or enjoying all things deep-fried and southern at downtown Raleigh's new local restaurants.
Nichole Booker is a trial attorney whose primary focus is medical malpractice. She represents individuals who have been injured by doctors, hospitals and other health care providers. Her singular focus on the law as it relates to medical malpractice has served her clients well.
Nichole grew up in Western North Carolina, where she frequently visits family. She attended the University of North Carolina at Wilmington as an undergraduate. She received her Bachelor of Arts in biology and her Masters of Education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro where she received the Bruce M. Eberhart Award for academic excellence and research in the field of biology. She received her Juris Doctor from the Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law at Campbell University in 2004 where she was a writer for the Campbell Law Observer, served as a Student Body Association representative, was an officer for Women in Law, and pioneered the Environmental Law Club. During law school Ms. Booker lobbied the North Carolina General Assembly on behalf of the Western North Carolina Alliance and was a clerk for a medical malpractice defense firm in New Bern, NC.
Prior to joining Mast, Mast, Johnson, Wells, & Trimyer, Nichole worked for several medical malpractice defense firms representing hospitals and doctors against medical malpractice claims. She now utilizes her experience as a defense lawyer to represent patients who have been injured by the negligence of medical professionals. Having represented clients on both sides of medical malpractice claims gives her a very unique perspective and is certainly an added advantage to her clients. Ms. Booker is a member of the Johnston County Bar Association, the North Carolina State Bar and the North Carolina Advocates for Justice (formerly the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers).
Nichole lives in Smithfield with her husband Brent who is a business owner in Apex, North Carolina. She has two fun and adventurous children, Grace and Mac. She and her family enjoy spending time at the beach and traveling. Nichole is an active member of First Presbyterian Church in Smithfield participating in community outreach programs such as Hospice and the JOCO Project. She also enjoys running and hiking.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Paralegals & Staff
Scott was born and raised in Smithfield along with his older brother and younger sister. Scott's parents, both Johnston County natives, stressed to their children the importance of education and community involvement. Scott attended SSS (Smithfield-Selma High School) where he was an officer in the Key Club, member of the National Honor Society and a four-year letterman of the wrestling team. Scott spent his summers in his teenage years working in tobacco and lifeguarding.
After high school, Scott attended the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and graduated with a degree in history. As a lifelong Tarheel fan, Scott is very proud of the fact that he, his brother, and sister are all UNC graduates. During his junior and senior years at UNC, Scott had the opportunity to work part-time as a "gopher" for a Chapel Hill law firm. This invaluable learning experience led Scott to pursue a career in the law. After graduating from UNC in the spring of 1986 and spending the summer backpacking through Europe, Scott enrolled at the Wake Forest University School of Law. Scott received an excellent legal education at Wake Forest and had the opportunity to learn from many renowned legal scholars including Professor Charlie Rose, Professor Suzanne Reynolds and Professor George "Maddog" Walker. Also, while attending law school, Scott gained tremendous experience through summer clerkships at law firm, in Durham and Charlotte, North Carolina.
After passing the bar in the summer of 1989, Scott began his legal career practicing with a large civil litigation firm in Raleigh. Scott gained a great deal of courtroom experience in this role and appeared in court in 90 of North Carolina's 100 counties. After several years of this statewide civil practice, Scott was pleased to have the opportunity to return home to practice law with his longtime mentor, George Mast, and his lifelong friend, Charles Mast. Scott has maintained offices in both of the firm's locations in Smithfield and in Cleveland community. He has had the privilege of assisting hundreds of clients in a wide variety of legal matters, primarily in personal injury and domestic law matters.
During his legal career, Scott has been involved in numerous civic, professional, and charitable organizations including volunteering for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Wake County, serving as an officer with the Young Lawyers Division of the Wake County Bar Association, the Board of Directors of Harbor, Inc., a founding board member of the Greater Cleveland Chamber of Commerce, officer in the Smithfield Jaycees, board member of the Neuse Charter School, and past president of the Johnston County Bar Association. Scott and his family are also active members of Saint Paul's Episcopal Church where he has served on the finance committee, audit committee, and Vestry, including as Junior and Senior Warden.
Scott is married to the former Suefan Wellons, also a Smithfield native, and a teacher with the Johnston County School system. Scott and Suefan are the proud parents of three wonderful daughters, Eliza, Jane Ivey, and Lillian