Benjamin “Kent” Gilder

Kent Gilder saw the employer’s side of the workforce long before he set foot in a courtroom. As a restaurant shift supervisor and a human resources intern for a construction company, he learned firsthand how much every team member matters to keeping a business running. Now an associate in Hedrick Gardner’s Charlotte office, he brings that perspective to helping employers and insurers handle North Carolina workers’ compensation claims.

Kent was drawn to the law by the promise of a career that would challenge him intellectually every day and allow him to build strong, lasting relationships with clients. Workers’ compensation delivers on both. Each claim brings its own mix of medical, factual, and legal questions, and Kent values the opportunity to learn something new with every file while giving clients clear, practical guidance on the path forward. His undergraduate training in psychology adds another dimension to his work, giving him insight into the people and motivations behind each claim.

Before joining Hedrick Gardner, Kent served as a judicial intern at the Supreme Court of North Carolina, where he prepared bench briefs and internal memoranda analyzing cases and issues pending before the Court. As a summer associate at a Charlotte law firm, he researched and drafted memos across a range of practice areas, prepared pleadings, motions, and discovery, and observed depositions, mediations, hearings, and trials. He earned his J.D. from Wake Forest University School of Law, where he was a member of the First Generation Law Students Organization.

Outside the office, Kent stays active through distance running, cycling, and weightlifting, and he enjoys experimenting with new recipes in the kitchen. A loyal Clemson fan, he makes the trip back to campus whenever he can to catch a football game with college friends. His favorite place to unwind is Perdido Key, where his grandparents have a condo. An avid traveler, he has explored Australia, Canada, Mexico, the Bahamas, Ireland, Scotland, Austria, Germany, Hungary, and Slovakia.