Richard E. Ladd, Jr.

Richard E. Ladd, Jr. is an Officer in the Bristol, Tennessee office of PennStuart, and serves as a member of the firm's Management Committee.  He is licensed to practice law in the State of Tennessee, and in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and maintains an active practice in both states.  Mr. Ladd concentrates in the areas of medical, legal and professional liability defense, complex litigation, and appellate work.

Mr. Ladd holds an AV® Preeminent™ 5.0 out of 5 rating with Martindale-Hubbell, and was selected for inclusion in Virginia Super Lawyers for 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011.  He is a Commissioner on the Tennessee Supreme Court Advisory Commission on the Rules of Practice and Procedure.  He is the Trustee of the Marian B. Peoples Charitable Trust, which maintains and oversees The J. Hansel Peoples Wildlife Preserve in Bristol, Tennessee.

Before joining PennStuart, Mr. Ladd served as a JAG Officer with the United States Navy, and as a Special Assistant United States Attorney. His assignments included the defense of medical malpractice cases brought against the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act, and the prosecution and defense of criminal cases in Special and General Courts Martial.  Mr. Ladd was also the Staff Judge Advocate for two naval hospitals.

Mr. Ladd is a former member of the Supreme Court of Virginia Appellate Rules Advisory Committee, and the Virginia State Bar Judicial Nominations Committee.  He is a past President of the Virginia Association of Defense Attorneys, having also served as President-Elect, Treasurer, Secretary, VADA Board of Directors member, Chair and Vice-Chair of the VADA Medical Malpractice Section, and as a member of the Board of Editors of The Journal of Civil Litigation. He received a Citation for Exceptional Performance from the Defense Research Institute in 2007, and was presented with the Robert M. Furniss, Jr. Award the same year. Mr. Ladd previously served as a member of the Boyd Graves Conference of the Virginia Bar Association, and as a member of the Board of Governors of the Health Law Section of the Virginia State Bar. Mr. Ladd was selected to the 2011 class of Virginia Lawyers Weekly's "Leaders in the Law". He is a former adjunct professor in the M.B.A. program at King College, and in the Paralegal Studies Department of Virginia Intermont College. Mr. Ladd provides presentations on the practical applications of civil procedure in both state and federal courts, risk management, professional liability defense issues, and has authored and/or contributed to articles appearing in Forbes Magazine, Lawyer's Weekly USA, Virginia Lawyer's Weekly, and The Journal of Civil Litigation.

Education

• University of Tennessee, J.D., 1985
• University of Tennessee, B.A., 1982: with Honors