Attorney Profiles

William is a native to southeastern North Carolina.  He was born in 1969 in Wilmington, North Carolina to J. Laurens Wright, Jr. and Elizabeth Betsy Burney Wright.  William is a product of the public schools of New Hanover County, and in 1988, he graduated from New Hanover High School.  Following graduation, William attended the University of North Carolina at Wilmington (UNCW).  While at UNCW, William was on the Dean's List five (5) semesters and received the Chancellor's Achievement Award in the Spring of 1993.  William was also inducted into the Phi Alpha Theta National Historic Honor Society during his time at UNCW.  In 1993, William graduated from UNCW with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and a Teaching Certification in Secondary Education for Social Studies.

Following graduation from UNCW, William spent the next three years teaching in the public schools in Brunswick County and working in restaurant and hotel management in New Hanover County.  During this time, William also attended a foreign language school for an intensive education and cultural immersion in Spanish at La Escuela de Idiomas de Cuscatlan in San Salvador, El Salvador.  Prior to and following his education in El Salvador, William has continued increasing his comprehension of Spanish by travelling extensively throughout the Latin American countries and/or protectorates of Central America and the Caribbean.
         
In 1996, William was accepted into the Norma Adrian Wiggins School of Law at Campbell University in Buies Creek, North Carolina.  While at Campbell, William served as a Notes and Comments Writer and an Articles Editor for The Campbell Law Review.  During his time in law school from 1997 through 1999, William also earned valuable legal experience while he was employed by the North Carolina Institute of Government at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill while serving as a Research Assistant for the Pattern Jury Instruction Committee of the North Carolina Conference of Superior Court Judges.  William received several awards while at law school including but not limited to the Corpus Juris Secundum Award for Criminal Law; Book Awards for his coursework in Administrative Law, Admiralty, Contract Planning, Corporations, Criminal Law, Lawyers in the Law Firm (Agency, Partnership & Ethics), and Trial Advocacy I; Honors in his classes for his coursework in Alternative Dispute Resolutions, Debtor Creditor Law, and Remedies.  During his time at Campbell, William was also inducted into Omicron Delta Kappa (National Leadership Honor Society) and Phi Kappa Phi (National Honor Society).   In 1999, William received his Juris Doctorate degree Cum Laude from the Norma Adrian Wiggins School of Law at Campbell University graduating 7th in his Class.
 
Following Law School, William worked as a Research Assistant for the Honorable K. Edward Greene on the North Carolina Court of Appeals from 1999 to 2000.  During this time, William gained significant insight into the inner workings of the appellate courts and received valuable training in legal research and writing and appellate advocacy.

After working for the Court of Appeals, William returned to his home town and accepted a position as an Associate with Shipman & Associates in 2000.  William became a partner in the firm in 2004 and has continued to serve as an integral part of the success of Shipman & Wright, LLP since that time.  William focuses his practice on civil litigation, involving primarily suits relating to personal injuries, wrongful death, construction litigation, business litigation, unfair and deceptive trade practices, municipal litigation, and appellate advocacy in both the State and Federal Courts of North Carolina.  William also represents several closely held businesses in southeastern North Carolina advising them on their transactional and planning needs.  In 2006, William became a Certified Mediator by the State of North Carolina's Dispute Resolution Commission.