Our People

Robert E. Skiver, Executive Director / Member, Board of Directors

The Liberty and Law Institute was founded by Robert E. Skiver, an attorney who resides in Cary, North Carolina. Mr. Skiver, who serves as the Institute’s executive director, is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and has served on both active duty and in the reserves as a U.S. Army armor officer.

A graduate of New York University School of Law, Mr. Skiver devoted almost 25 years to trial practice as a criminal prosecutor in both state and federal courts. He has taught practicing attorneys at the National Advocacy Center and has periodically assisted teaching law students at the University of North Carolina and Duke University Schools of Law.

After serving as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of North Carolina from 1989 through 2007, Mr. Skiver retired to pursue his dream of teaching young Americans what Dr. Martin Luther King described as “the magnificent words of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence.”  With the formation of the Liberty & Law Institute, that dream has become a reality. Mr. Skiver and his wife Melissa, a music teacher, have three daughters – graduates of UNC-G and UNC and a UNC undergraduate – and one son – a West Point graduate currently serving on active duty with the U.S. Army.

Kieran J. Shanahan, Member, Board of Directors

Kieran Shanahan is a former federal prosecutor and is currently the principal of Shanahan Law Group, PLLC, a Raleigh-based business litigation firm he founded in 2001. He previously served as a partner with Patton Boggs and as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in both the Eastern District of North Carolina and the Northern District of Georgia. Shanahan served four terms as a member of the Raleigh City Council and has been a delegate to numerous county, district, state and national Republican conventions. He serves on the board of directors for Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina and the Board of Trustees for the Bennett College for Women. He is founder and chairman of both the N.C. Property Rights Coalition and the N.C. Property Rights Foundation. Shanahan has been recognized as one of North Carolina’s “Super Lawyers” and was named one of Business Leader magazine’s “Impact Leaders” in the legal profession in 2008.

John T. Bode, Member, Board of Directors

John T. Bode attended Cathedral School in Raleigh and graduated from there in 1958.  He is a 1962 graduate of the United States Military Academy.  He served in the United States Army as an Infantry Officer in South America and Southeast Asia where he received the Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart.  He received his law degree from the University of North Carolina in 1969 and has since practiced law in New York and North Carolina.  His wife, Lucy Hancock Bode, was Secretary of North Carolina Department of Human Resources and is currently Chairman of the North Carolina Medical Care Commission.  John and Lucy have a daughter, Mary Wills, who is a Senior at Wake Forest University, and two sons, Paul, a graduate of Dartmouth, currently working for Bank of America in New York, and David, a graduate of Washington and Lee University, currently working on his MBA at the Kenan-Flagler School of Business in Chapel Hill.

Donna J. Moss, Member, Board of Directors

Donna J. Moss has been an educator for 25 years.  She has taught both regular education and special education public schools in Ohio and North Carolina. After receiving a Master of Education in Administration from Campbell University, Donna became the Principal of Sacred Heart Cathedral Catholic School in Raleigh, NC in 1999.  Her school proudly received a National Blue Ribbon of Excellence in 2007 from the US Department of Education.  Donna is married and has one son who is a college student.

Neal Ellis, Member, Board of Directors

Neal Ellis presently serves as Senior Counsel at the law firm of Hunton & Williams where he was an associate and partner for more than thirty years.  He is a graduate of the United States Military Academy and the University of Virginia Law School.  He retired from the US Army Reserve in 2000 as a Colonel after thirty years of service.  Mr. Ellis teaches trial advocacy in several nationally recognized programs and has been listed in Best Lawyers in America, North Carolina Superlawyers, Chambers USA Guide to Leading Lawyers for Business, and Superlawyers Corporate Counsel Edition.

Austin M. Chestnut, Secretary

Austin Chestnut is an attorney with Shanahan Law Group in Raleigh.  He concentrates his practice in the areas of Wills & Trusts, Estate Administration (Probate), Asset Protection for businesses and individuals, estate and trust litigation, business transactions, business formations, contracts, and business disputes.  Austin was born in Southern Pines, N.C., and grew up in Raleigh. He completed his undergraduate work at North Carolina State University’s College of Management, where he received his Bachelors of Science Degree in 1998. Austin then went on to pursue both his Juris Doctorate and Masters in Business Administration simultaneously at Campbell University, receiving both degrees in 2002. During law school he was on the staff of the Campbell Law Observer and served as an officer of the Campbell Chapter of the Federalist Society as well as several officer roles for the William C. Bryant Chapter of the Delta Theta Phi Law Fraternity.

Kenneth Dickson, CPA, Treasurer

Ken Dickson is a CPA with a practice in Raleigh. Ken is also a Certified Fraud Examiner and is Certified in Financial Forensics. In addition to his public accounting experience Ken worked as a Special Agent with the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation in the Financial Crime Investigations Unit.

Matt Segal, Management Operations Officer

Matt and his wife Meg are natives of Philadelphia. Matt received his BS from Temple University in 1971 and his MA from Central Michigan University in 1975. An Army ROTC graduate, he spent 3 ½ years on active duty and another 25 years in the Army Reserve retiring as a Colonel in 1999. In his civilian career, Matt worked for McDonald’s Corp for 28 years, retiring in 2004 as a Senior Operations Manager in their Store of the Future initiative. After his retirement, Matt formed his own consulting company, QSR Solutions, Inc, which provides operations management and planning services to the quick service restaurant industry. Meg and Matt, who live in Cary, NC, volunteer extensively with the USO of NC. Matt also sits on the Foundation Board of the North Carolina Symphony and serves as Treasurer of the Military Officers Assn of America (MOAA) Triangle Chapter.