Our Attorneys

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John@SchmidtCopeland.com

John focuses his practice on state and local government contracts, litigation and administrative law. John's experience includes advice and representation of clients before administrative tribunals, government agencies, state and federal courts and in mediations and arbitrations.

He has handled state and local government contracts matters in over 40 states addressing a wide variety of goods, services and industries; including computer systems implementation, insurance, construction, food services, chemicals, document management, health care and others. John has extensive experience in developing creative strategies and solutions to help clients meet their goals in government contracting at the state and local level. 

John  is a certified mediator and a frequent lecturer on government contracts and other issues.

John is licensed to practice in the District of Columbia, South Carolina and Virginia. He is also a recipient of the South Carolina Attorney General’s Award of Appreciation as Special Assistant Attorney General from Criminal and Domestic Violence Prosecution.

He received his bachelor of arts degree from Furman University and his juris doctor degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School

Missy@SchmidtCopeland.com

Missy focuses her practice on state and local government contracts and business litigation matters. Missy has extensive experience advising on state and local government contracts, having handled matters dealing with the law of nearly all states as well as Puerto Rico. Missy has represented clients across the country before administrative tribunals, state and federal courts, and in arbitration proceedings.

Missy is licensed to practice in North and South Carolina and Tennessee. She is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina, the Middle District of North Carolina, the Western District of North Carolina, the Eastern District of Michigan, and the District of Colorado. Missy has served as a special assistant solicitor for the Office of the Solicitor of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit in South Carolina.

Missy is actively involved in the Public Contract Law Section of the American Bar Association having served on the Section Council, as co-chair of the State and Local Procurement Division, and as co-chair of the State Law Database Coordination Committee.  She was awarded the Donald McL. Davidson Award by the Public Contract Law Section of the American Bar Association in 2011 for her work in the area of state and local procurement. Missy is the recipient of the Claude M. Scarborough, Jr. Pro Bono Award and the S.C. Attorney General’s Award of Appreciation. She was also named a 2008 BTI Client Service All-Star.

Missy speaks regularly on government contract issues, including a seminar entitled “Government Contracts,” for “The Ladder to Success Continuing Legal Education Program.”  She spoke at the First Annual State and Local Procurement Symposium on “Federal Civil and Criminal Liabilities.”  She also spoke at the South Carolina Administrative and Regulatory Law Association Educational Seminar and Annual Meeting on procurement issues.  In addition to speaking on these issues, she has also written many articles, including “Getting the Government to Play by Its Own Rules,” printed in Government Contract Litigation Best Practices: Leading Lawyers on Understanding Regulations, Planning Defensively, and Successfully Litigating Government Contracts.  She is the author of “State and Local Procurement: It's a Different World,” published in The Procurement Lawyer, "Organizational Conflicts of Interest: A Call to Action," published in The Procurement Lawyer, and “Learning Government Purchasing Lingo,” published in the South Carolina Business Journal. She is the Editor of the Guide to State Procurement: a 50 State Primer on Purchasing Laws, Processes and Procedures (2011), 2nd Ed (2016), and 3rd Ed (2022) published by the American Bar Association.

She earned a bachelor of arts degree from The College of Charleston and a juris doctor degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law.