Phone: (919) 787-7711
Facsimile: (919) 787-7710
rgillespie@wrlaw.com
Bio
Reginald “Reggie” B. Gillespie, Jr. joined Wilson Ratledge in 2012, and has concentrated his practice on complex litigation matters, including commercial, computer and technology, construction, employment, insurance, real estate and land use, business and shareholder disputes, and local government and law enforcement liability. For more than two decades, Mr. Gillespie has successfully served as general counsel for Triangle area family real estate development companies, the North Carolina division of a national builder, and has served in a similar capacity for a prestigious independent school since 2007. Periodically, Mr. Gillespie also serves as local counsel in North Carolina state and federal litigation and trials, as well as appellate courts.
In addition to being admitted to practice in all of the State trial and appellate courts in North Carolina, Mr. Gillespie is admitted to practice in the United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, and the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of North Carolina. His professional affiliations North Carolina Bar Association (Litigation Section), Durham County Bar Association, and American Inns of Court, Craven-Everett Inn, Durham, North Carolina.
Mr. Gillespie was born in Burlington, North Carolina, and grew up in Gastonia, North Carolina. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1980, with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Economics, and from UNC Law School with a Juris Doctor with Honors in 1983. He was active in student government and other aspects of student life including serving as an elected representative on the Campus Governing Council (student legislature) and later as the Student Body Attorney General, dormitory government, and membership in a fraternity. He also worked part time for the Office of Student Affairs, and as an air personality for WBAG-FM (now Sunny 93.9) and for the campus radio station, WXYC-FM. Summer employment included working as supervisor of the Charlotte, N.C. Goodwill Industries Industrial Services division, which employed disabled workers to perform contract services for local businesses. In law school, he was a member of the UNC Law Review, served on the Law School Honor Court, and as the Law School Attorney General.
Mr. Gillespie has served as a parent and fund raising volunteer, and a fund raising leader at Ravenscroft School in Raleigh. He is also a member of Christ Episcopal Church in Raleigh and has served on newcomer, capital, and stewardship committees. Mr. Gillespie is currently a member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of North Hills Club, Inc., a nonprofit family social, athletic, and recreational club in Raleigh, North Carolina. North Hills Club recently completed a successful capital addition program that led to the construction of a new clubhouse, which together with swimming pools and tennis courts, serves more than 700 families.
Mr. Gillespie has been awarded Martindale Hubbell’s® coveted “AV Preeminent” rating. It is a testament to Mr. Gillespie’s excellence in professional ability and uncompromising commitment to ethics, and is confirmation his peers rate him at this highest possible level. Furthermore, Mr. Gillespie was ranked as a 2020, 2021, and 2022 North Carolina Super Lawyer, and was selected for America’s Top 100 Attorneys and America’s Top 100 High Stakes Litigators.
Mr. Gillespie is proud of the fact that he plays a lot of tennis, and although he holds some rather unusual tennis records at North Hills Club, he is also candid enough to admit that his game is, and always will be, very much a work in progress.
Areas of Practice
General and Business Litigation, including:
- commercial, computer, construction, employment, insurance, real estate and land use, and technology cases
- business disputes and shareholder/corporate issues
- local government and law enforcement liability cases
Education
- J.D. with Honors, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law, 1983
- B.A., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1980
Bar Admissions
- North Carolina
- United States Supreme Court
- United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina
- U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina
- U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of North Carolina
Professional Activities
- North Carolina Bar Association
- Durham County Bar Association
- American Inns of Court, Craven-Everett Inn