Richard C. Mitchell
- Partner
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Richard C. Mitchell is a partner with Mitchell & Shapiro LLP. He concentrates on personal injury matters, including medical malpractice, trucking and auto wrecks, and aviation crashes. In December of 2003 and 2014, he was voted by his peers in Georgia Trend magazine as one of Georgia’s “Legal Elite” in the personal injury area. From 2003-2022 the readers of Atlanta Magazine voted him a “Georgia Super Lawyer” in personal injury litigation. He is regarded as one of the most experienced personal injury and medical malpractice lawyers in the Atlanta, Georgia area and has received the highest possible professional rating, Martindale-Hubble's AV Preeminent rating, consecutively for 20 years.
Richard C. Mitchell was an associate and partner with the major law firm Powell, Goldstein, Frazer & Murphy for over 14 years before leaving to start his own firm in 1997. During that time, he successfully represented numerous manufacturers and insurers in product liability cases, including manufacturers of automobiles, aircraft and aircraft components, forklifts, woodworking machinery, chemicals, conveyor belts, and electric limit switches. He left the large firm in order to concentrate on representing injured individuals. Mr. Mitchell’s years of experience defending clients in personal injury cases and working with insurance companies have given him a unique insight into the civil litigation process and an ability to work with defendants to obtain favorable results for his clients. He is a successful veteran of more than 100 trials, arbitrations, and mediations; he therefore has the experience and skills to achieve his clients’ goals before a judge and jury in the event a settlement cannot be reached. As one of the finest personal injury lawyers in Atlanta, Georgia, Richard C. Mitchell has been a frequent speaker at seminars and the author of chapters in several treatises and legal articles.
Richard is also currently serving as an adjunct professor at Georgia State University School of Law.
Areas of Practice
- Personal Injury and Wrongful Death – Plaintiff
- Medical Malpractice and Nursing Home – Plaintiff
- Aviation, Trucking, and Products Liability Litigation – Plaintiff
- Brain and Spinal Cord Injury – Plaintiff
Bar Admissions
- Georgia, 1981
- District of Columbia, 1986
- U.S. District Court Northern District of Georgia, 1981
- U.S. District Court Middle District of Georgia, 1993
- U.S. District Court Northern District of Texas, 1992
- U.S. Court of Appeals 5th Circuit, 1981
- U.S. Court of Appeals 7th Circuit, 1993
- U.S. Court of Appeals 11th Circuit, 1981
Education
- Stanford Law School, Stanford, California
- J.D. - 1981
- University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia
- B.A. With Highest Distinction - 1978
- Honors: Phi Beta Kappa
- Major: American Government
Published Works
- It is 'Products Liability', Right?, 38 For the Defense 10, October, 1996
- Responding to an Appeal and Voluntary Dismissal (Co-author), Lawyers Cooperative Federal Practice Guide, Federal Appellate Procedure, Eleventh Circuit, Volume 1, June, 1996
- A Practical Guide To Ergonomics (Co-author), Federal Publications, Inc., October, 1993
- Products Liability: Think and Act Defensively, Homecare, October, 1991
- Products Liability: The Best Offense Is a Good Defense, Homecare, September, 1991
- Using Government Investigative Reports in Product Liability Litigation, 18 Product Safety & Liability Reporter 48, November 30, 1990
Classes/Seminars
- Jurisdictional Issues in Aviation Cases, Aviation Law Seminar, Institute of Continuing Legal Education in Georgia, 1988
- Claims for Psychic Injuries and Property Damage, Proof of Damages Seminar, April and September 1989, Georgia State University Center for Continuing Legal Education, 1989
- Evidentiary Issues in Products Liability Litigation, Product Liability Institute, Institute of Continuing Legal Education in Georgia, 1990
- Discovery Issues in Complex Coverage Cases, Seminar on Insurance Excess and Reinsurance Coverage Disputes, Practicing Law Institute, New York, NY, 1991
- Spoliation of Evidence, Aviation Law Seminar, Institute of Continuing Legal Education in Georgia, 12/01/ 1994
- Sharpening Your Deposition Strategy, Professional Education Systems, 11/19/1999
- Program Chair, Issues in Professional Negligence Seminar, Georgia Trial Lawyers Association, 2000
- Program Chair, Issues in Professional Negligence Seminar, Georgia Trial Lawyers Association, 2002
- Personal Injury Settlements in Georgia, National Business Institute (NBI), 01/23/2002
- The Apology Statute in Medical Malpractice Claims, Georgia Trial Lawyers Annual Convention, April 16, 2009
- Known Complications and Other Defenses, Medical Malpractice Seminar, 02/17/2017
- Presentation of Damages Evidence, Session Co-chair, Georgia Trial Lawyers Annual Convention, 04/28/2017
Honors and Awards
- Georgia Trend’s 2022 Legal Elite
- Named a Top Attorney in Georgia, Atlanta Magazine
- Named an Attorney to Watch by Atlanta Attorney At Law Magazine
- Voted a “Georgia Super Lawyer” in personal injury litigation by the readers of Atlanta Magazine, 2003-2022
- Named a Top Rated Lawyer in Personal Injury Law in the September 2013 issue of The American Lawyer & Corporate Counsel magazine
- Named a Top Rated Lawyer in personal injury by Georgia's Legal Leaders
- Abe Schwartz Young Leadership Award, Atlanta Jewish Federation
- Leadership Atlanta Class of 1995-96
- Named one of Georgia’s Legal Elite for personal injury law, Georgia Trend magazine, 2003, 2014
- Named to Top 100 Trial Lawyers by The National Trial Lawyers 2011
- Superb AVVO Rating
- AV rating Martindale Hubbell
- Named One of Ten Outstanding Young Atlantans, 1987
Professional Associations and Memberships
- State Bar of Georgia, Member Aviation (Chairman 1988), Litigation and Products Liability Sections
- Atlanta Bar Association , Member, Litigation Section
- American Association for Justice, Member- Leadership Forum, Medical Malpractice, Products Liability & Aviation Sections
- Georgia Trial Lawyers Association, Member,1997 – Present; 2000 – 2003, Co-Chairman Professional Liability Committee
- American Arbitration Association, Former Member, Panel of Commercial Arbitrators
Past Employment Positions
- Powell, Goldstein, Frazer & Murphy, Associate/Partner, 1982 to 1997
- Hon. Newell Edenfield, United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Law Clerk, 1981
- Hon. Orinda Evans, United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Law Clerk, 1981 to 1982
Pro Bono Activities
- Atlanta Volunteer Lawyer's Foundation, 1982 - Present, Board Member 2013 - 2016
- Anti-Defamation League Southeastern Region, 1986 – 1997, Board of Directors
- Board of Directors, Our House, Inc., Children’s Day Shelter, 1994 to 1996
- American Jewish Committee Southeastern Region, 1996 – 2000, Board of Directors
- Cool Girls, Inc., 1999 – 2001, Board of Directors
- The Paideia School, 1999 – 2005, Board of Directors
- Member, Trial Lawyers Care, organization to provide free legal assistance to families of victims of 9/11 terrorist attacks, 2001 to 2003
- Volunteer, One Child, One Lawyer program, 2006 to 2010
- Atlanta Legal Aid Society Advisory Board, 2018 to 2019
- Georgia Innocence Project Board of Directors, 2019 to Present
Fraternities/Sororities
- Phi Beta Kappa
- Phi Epsilon Pi