Faculty Profile: Richard Carter

Richard Carter received his Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Military Academy. Richard served in various positions as an Infantry Lieutenant and Captain in Europe before attending law school under the Funded Legal Education Program. While in law school at the University of Memphis School of Law, Richard was Editor-In-Chief of the Law Review and a member of the Moot Court Board. Following graduation from law school, Richard served in the Army Judge Advocate General's Corps as a prosecutor, senior prosecutor, and senior defense counsel before leaving the service in 1984 to join Martin Tate.

Since 1999 Richard has been certified in Civil Trial Advocacy by the National Board of Trial Advocacy and the Tennessee Board of Specialization. He has been listed in Best Lawyers in America for several years and has been selected as one of the Best Lawyers in Tennessee in the area of Intellectual Property. He holds an AV rating with Martindale Hubbell. Richard is past Chairman of the Local Rules Committee and past  Chairman of the Standing Local Rules Committee for the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. He has served as an officer of the Leo Bearman Sr. Inn of Court as well as chairman of his church's Diaconate and Clerk of the Session of Independent Presbyterian Church. He has lectured extensively on trial practice issues including: patent litigation; e-discovery; Federal Local Rules and Federal Rules of Civil Procedure; accounting defense; uses of demonstrative evidence at trial; Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act; wrongful death; and federal practice, to name a few.

Richard has handled many complex civil and criminal cases in the areas of patent litigation (at the district court and federal circuit levels), construction litigation, accounting defense, legal malpractice defense and wrongful death. His substantial jury trial experience has equipped him to handle jury trials in both the state and federal courts. 

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