Hon. James L. Gale

North Carolina Business Court

Judge Gale serves as a Senior Judge of the North Carolina Business Court with chambers located at Elon University School of Law in Greensboro. Judge Gale was sworn in as a Special Superior Court Judge for Complex Business Cases in March 2011 and served as Chief Judge of the Business Court from 2014 to 2018. Judge Gale is a member of the American College of Business Court Judges and served a two-year term as one of the College’s representatives to the ABA Business Law Section. Judge Gale is currently co-chair of that Section’s Business Court Subcommittee. Following a clerkship for the Honorable Franklin T. Dupree, Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, he joined the predecessor firm of Smith Moore Leatherwood, maintaining a commercial litigation practice for 35 years. Judge Gale is a judicial advisor to The Sedona Conference. Judge Gale was admitted to the bars of North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Judge Gale received his B.A. from Florida Presbyterian College (Eckerd College) in 1969 and his J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Georgia in 1974.