About Eddie Winstead

Sanford Lawyer

Attorney Eddie Winstead attended North Carolina State University, graduating in 1976. In 1979, he enrolled in the Campbell University School of Law (now the Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law) in Buies Creek, NC, graduating in 1982. He and his wife then moved to Sanford where Eddie opened a private practice on Main Street in Jonesboro. In 1984 he was sworn in as an Assistant District Attorney in the Eleventh Prosecutorial District, prosecuting criminal cases in Lee, Harnett and Johnston Counties until 1988, when he joined the firm of Harrington & Gilleland, which has become Harrington, Gilleland, Winstead, Feindel& Lucas, LLP.

He is a former member and Chairman of the Lee County Board of Education. He currently serves as the Attorney Advocate for the Guardian ad Litem in Lee County, representing and assisting abused and neglected children, having served in this capacity for over 20 years.  He has also served as President of both the Lee County and 11th Judicial District Bar Associations and continues to serve in various local and state Bar organizations.  Eddie is a member of the North Carolina State Bar, the North Carolina Bar Association, and North Carolina Advocates for Justice.  He is also admitted to practice in the United States District Court for the Middle and Eastern Districts of North Carolina.

Eddie is a member of the Board of Directors of the Ingram Family YMCA in Sanford, a former Local Advisory Board member of Capital Bank and Lee County Group Homes Board of Directors for over 15 years. He is an Eagle Scout.

Eddie and his wife have lived in Sanford for over 35 years.  They have two adult sons.

His practice areas are commercial and residential real estate, business organizations, civil litigation, traffic, and criminal law, as well as wills, trusts and estate administration, and guardianship. He has tried numerous civil and criminal cases in District and Superior Court, both with and without a jury, and is certified by the North Carolina Dispute Resolution Commission as a Superior Court Mediator.  In addition to regularly assisting homebuyers with their purchase of a new home, Eddie has closed numerous commercial real estate transactions involving shopping centers, industrial sites, and more than ten large multifamily housing projects.