Peter O’Connell was born in Massachusetts and raised in Connecticut. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Alabama, where he was the editor-in-chief of the daily student newspaper. After graduation, he spent six years as a reporter and editor at small newspapers in Alabama, Mississippi, and South Carolina. He then moved to Las Vegas, where he worked seven years as a reporter and editor at the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Mr. O’Connell enrolled in Wake Forest University School of Law in 2005, and graduated magna cum laude in 2008. He joined Sharpless & Stavola, P.A., in September 2008. He is admitted to practice in all state and federal courts in North Carolina, as well as the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Mr. O’Connell and his wife, Wendy, live in Summerfield and have three children.