Biography
Richard Carter practices mainly in complex litigation, including commercial construction, intellectual property such as patents and copyrights, professional liability, and serious personal injury and wrongful death. He has tried many complex jury cases to verdict in state and federal courts over more than forty years of practice, and has been certified in Civil Trial Law by the National Board of Trial Advocacy since 1999. He has also helped doctors and other professionals with contracts and actions to protect their licensure.
He holds an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell and has been listed in Best Lawyers in America for many years, including as one of the Best Lawyers in Tennessee in Intellectual Property and Litigation. He served on a Tennessee Bar Association committee exploring uniform local rules for the state's three federal districts, and he chaired the Western District's local rules committees, including during the 2009 to 2010 rewrite and later the Standing Local Rules Committee from 2012 to 2016.
He has lectured extensively on federal local rules, patent litigation, and trial practice, and has chaired the firm's Litigation Department for more than 25 years. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1973, served as an Infantry officer in Europe, and then as an Army Judge Advocate General's Corps attorney before joining Martin Tate in 1984.