Top Rated Family Law Attorney in Wilmington, NC

A co-founder of Lea/Schultz Law, James W. Lea, III has focused his practice exclusively on family law matters for a great deal of his career. His firm is located in Wilmington, North Carolina, and his client base comes from throughout the greater metropolitan area and other parts of the state.

Mr. Lea majored in psychology as an undergraduate at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and in 1976, he received his Bachelor of Arts. Remaining in the state for his legal education, he attended the Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law, part of Raleigh-based Campbell University, and he was awarded his Juris Doctor in 1980. Mr. Lea became admitted to practice before all North Carolina state courts later in that year, and he has subsequently been admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit.

The bulk of Mr. Lea’s family law practice is devoted to divorce and the associated legal issues that arise. He guides those of his clients whose marriages have broken down through the processes of property division, child custody and visitation, and spousal and child support. Many of Mr. Lea’s clients have business ownership interests as well as qualified pension plans and other retirement assets, and he works with them to develop a strategy that gives them the best chance to walk away with a fair division of those types of property. His successful track record has earned him an AV Preeminent* peer review rating through Martindale-Hubbell along with many other awards and honors.

*AV®, AV Preeminent®, Martindale-Hubbell Distinguished and Martindale-Hubbell Notable are certification marks used under license in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards and policies. Martindale-Hubbell® is the facilitator of a peer review rating process. Ratings reflect the anonymous opinions of members of the bar and the judiciary. Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Rating™ fall into two categories – legal ability and general ethical standards.