Bio

David Gantt is a native of Lee County, North Carolina. He received a degree in economics from UNC Chapel Hill in 1978 and graduated from Campbell Law School in 1981.

David and his wife Charise have made Buncombe County their home for the past 30-plus years. David’s law firm represents injured and disabled clients throughout western North Carolina in obtaining workers’ compensation and Social Security benefits, and Charise is a pharmacist at Blue Ridge Community Health Center. Their children, Brett and Carrie, are graduates of TC Roberson High School. Brett is currently working on his PhD in atmospheric environmental studies at NC State and Carrie is attending law school at George Washington University.

David has been active in our community as a small business owner (His office is based in a restored home on Church Street in downtown Asheville) and through organizations like Santa Pal, the PTA, the Jaycees, and the Optimists, and has coached Little League.

David was first elected to the Buncombe County Commission in 1996 and was elected Chairman in 2008.

Current Board Memberships:

• Chair of Land of Sky Regional Council 2001-2004
• Appointed by Governor Perdue to Mountain Resources Commission in 2010
• Elected Chair of Mountain Resources Commission in 2010
• Appointed by Governor Easley to NC Employment Security Commission in 2008
• Asheville Airport Authority
• Martin Luther King Jr Committee
• Life member of NAACP
• Chamber of Commerce
• Council of Independent Business Owners Organization

Past Memberships:

Presenting Optimist Club awards in 1980

• United Way
• Eblen Charities Foundation
• Pack Square Conservancy Board
• Metropolitan Sewerage District Board
• Asheville-Buncombe Community Relations Council
• President, Glen Arden PTA
• NC Advocates for Justice Board of Governors
• Chair, Disability Advocate Section of NC Advocates for Justice
• University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Parents Council
• Dean, People’s Law School- NC Academy of Trial Lawyers

Honors and Awards:

• Board-certified in Workers’ Compensation Law by Board of Legal Specialization
• WENOA Sierra Club Leadership Award, 2010
• Charles Campbell Regional Leadership Award, 2004
• RiverWise Award for French Broad River preservation, 2006
• Editor of Buncombe County Lawyer newsletter 1993-1998
• Circle of Excellence Award for Community Leadership, 2005
• Friends of the River Award, 2007
  

  The Gantt family

• NC State Bar Association Centennial Award for Community Service, 2005
• NC State Bar Association Citizen Lawyer Award, 2007
• Top 100 Lawyers in NC- American Trial Lawyers Association, 2009, 2010
• Super Lawyers 2009, 2010