Hunter Eddins Gentel — A Personal Perspective

Values rooted in small town upbringing

Hunter Eddins Gentel is proud of her small town upbringing.

Greatly influenced by her parents and grandfather, all of whom were tobacco farmers, she learned the value of hard work and the principle of helping those around you.

"My father said, 'never forget where you came from because it will help determine where you go,'" Hunter said.

Hunter's grandfather was very active in the Democratic Party. He encouraged her to go to Washington to see for herself how laws and policies were made. As a result, during college Hunter served as an intern for Democratic Congressman David Price and worked for Democratic Congressman Bob Etheridge's re-election campaign in 2000 and 2002.

"My experiences encouraged me to go to law school," she said. "Law has the same type of philosophy as politics. They (politicians) represent people who can't represent themselves, people who have no voice."

Dedicated to helping those in need

Following college, Hunter served as an intern in the North Carolina Supreme Court for The Honorable Justice George L. Wainwright, Jr. The court dealt with all manner of law, and gave her a good overview of the legal system.

"Many (of our cases) were people who struggled all of their lives and ended up in trouble," she explained.

After working almost three years representing large insurance companies in workers' compensation cases, Hunter realized she was on the wrong side of the table.

One of the workers' compensation cases that meant the most to her was helping a working-class woman who had a terminally ill daughter, a severe ankle injury and a very low workers' compensation weekly payment. Working with the defense attorney, Hunter was able to get her client a fair settlement allowing the woman to focus more on her daughter.

"I'm not so concerned about the facts of the law that I forget about the human part of someone's case," Hunter said. "It goes back to helping people who can't — or don't know how to — help themselves."

Outside of work, Hunter enjoys spending time with her husband and their golden retriever, as well as kayaking, reading and going to the beach.