SERVING SOUTHEASTERN NORTH CAROLINA
FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS
James B. Gillespie, Jr.
Experienced Attorney Serving Southeastern North Carolina
James B. Gillespie, Jr., PLLC
James B. Gillespie, Jr. was born and reared in Wilmington, North Carolina, graduated from New Hanover High School and attended Davidson College and Cornell Law School where he was awarded his Juris Doctorate.
Mr. Gillespie has been practicing in the Wilmington area since 1976, with emphasis on the representation of injured and disabled people. Beginning in the late 1980s, he wrote extensively for a national legal publisher on the representation of disabled people before the Social Security Administration. He has lectured for the North Carolina Bar Association and the North Carolina Advocates for Justice. On a national level he has presented training material to the National Organization of Social Security Claimant's Representatives, an organization in which he has been a significant participant for more than 25 years.
The North Carolina State Bar has recognized certain members who have “committed excellence in their practice areas, have passed a rigorous examination, continue to educate themselves about the latest developments in their field, and have received high praise from their peers." Mr. Gillespie is one of 40 lawyers in North Carolina recognized by the State Bar as a specialist in the area of Social Security Disability representation, and is one of 116 lawyers in the state of North Carolina having a Board Specialization in North Carolina Workers' Compensation. He is one of only two lawyers in the state of North Carolina, out of 21,400 practicing attorneys in 2012, Board Certified in both Workers’ Compensation and Social Security Disability.
In addition to Social Security disability and workers' compensation, the firm also represents individuals in the area of short and long term disability programs stemming from employment. Significant litigation experience includes favorable opinions on the areas of Workers’ Compensation, ERISA long term disability benefits, and Social Security disability from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, United States District Court of the Eastern District of North Carolina, North Carolina Industrial Commission, North Carolina Court of Appeals, and North Carolina Supreme Court. Professional organizations include more than 25 years as a patron with the North Carolina Advocates for Justice, membership in the North Carolina Bar Association, the North Carolina State Bar, the Academy of Trial Lawyers of America, and the National Organization of Social Security Claimants' Representatives.
On a personal level, Mr. Gillespie is married to Carolyn Bass Gillespie, who works in the office assisting their clients. He is a Rotarian of 30 years standing, has coached Cape Fear Foils, the Hoggard High School Fencing Club for the past 23 years, and spends his free time enjoying his family, hunting, fishing and the activities of southeastern North Carolina.
Mr. Gillespie continues to be interested in the advancement of the same legal principles that brought him back to Southeastern North Carolina in the mid 1970s to organize and run the Legal Services program for the eight Southeastern most counties of the State of North Carolina.