Gilbert W. File

Gilbert W. File is a Raleigh civil litigation lawyer who handles complex guardianship, estate, trust, fiduciary, fraud, commercial, and landlord-tenant disputes. His work includes incompetency proceedings, fiduciary appointments and removals, business debts, contract disputes, construction issues, judgment enforcement, liens, housing matters, and regulatory concerns. He brings prior judicial experience to cases involving contested financial, property, and family-related issues.

File earned his J.D. from Campbell University’s Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law. He received his B.A. in English from The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, where he made the Dean’s List. His education provided a strong foundation in legal analysis, writing, advocacy, and problem-solving. This training supports his work on complicated civil disputes involving estates, trusts, guardianships, contracts, and fiduciary responsibilities.

File worked in the Wake County Clerk of Superior Court’s office before and after law school. He served as a Deputy Clerk, Legal Officer, Assistant Clerk, and later Clerk of Superior Court and Probate Judge. In those roles, he presided over thousands of hearings involving incompetency, guardianship, estates, trusts, fiduciaries, and judgment enforcement. His litigation experience later included a landmark fraud case that resulted in a $13 million jury verdict.

Gilbert W. File remains active in North Carolina’s legal community through guardianship reform, writing, and continuing legal education. He serves with the North Carolina Rethinking Guardianship effort and statutory drafting team. He has written and lectured on guardianship practice, incompetency proceedings, and practice before clerks. His professional memberships include sections of the North Carolina Bar Association focused on estate planning, fiduciary law, litigation, elder law, and special needs law.

Law Office Affiliations

• Attorney, Hatch, Little & Bunn, LLP
• Member, North Carolina Bar Association, Estate Planning & Fiduciary Law Section, Litigation Section, Elder & Special Needs Law Section

Licensed State

• North Carolina

Education

• Campbell University: Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law
  Juris Doctor (JD)
• The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina
  BA in English

Awards & Badges