I was born in Raleigh, the youngest of five children, to Mildred and C.A. Dillon.   My mother graduated from the Eastman School of Music and taught music in our public schools.  My father graduated from N.C. State and worked in a local industrial supply business.  I attended public school in Wake County, graduating from Broughton HS in 1983.  I became a “double Tar Heel,” earning an undergraduate business degree (1987) and a law degree (1990) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  More recently, I earned a graduate law degree from Duke University (2018).

I married my wife Ann Finley, also the youngest of five children, in 1995.  She graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1988 and received her Masters in Special Education from N.C. State.  She is a special education teacher in Raleigh.  And together we have five children:  Sally, Matt, Anna, Molly and Sam.

After passing the Bar Exam in 1990, I began my law career at Young Moore Henderson in Raleigh.  Through the years, my law practice has focused on representing occupational licensing boards and licensees as well as on real estate.  In addition to practicing law, I have worked as a real estate broker, having received my license from the North Carolina Real Estate Commission in 1997. I have also worked with small businesses and individuals as a community banker at a small Raleigh-based bank that I helped start in 2006.

​I decided to run for the Court of Appeals in 2012 because I love the law, I wanted to serve our State and I believe that the Court would benefit from having at least one judge with a professional background that comprised of more than just practicing law.  I was honored to be elected that year.​

Since being elected, I have participated in over 2000 appellate decisions, having personally authored more than 700 opinions.  I have also had the privilege of teaching at both UNC and Campbell law school, where I am an adjunct professor, teaching Real Estate Transactions and Finance.  I have spoken to high school students on over 100 occasions about the law and our court system.

I have enjoyed my years of service and have enjoyed broad support from Republicans, Democrats and Independents alike.  Though I would have only been on the Court for eight years at the end of my current term, I will be the second most senior judge on our 15-member court if re-elected as we have had a number of retirements in recent years. In fact, there will be five seats on the Court on the ballot this November, and I am the only judge running seeking re-election.