Lee Livingston

Lee has a 29-year history of success helping people who have been seriously injured. This has resulted in peer review awards including being selected as “Lawyer of the Year" for both personal injury law and medical malpractice law by U.S. News and World Report, Best Lawyers.

Lee frequently is brought into complex cases by outside lawyers. His list of top verdicts and settlements is long. He was part of likely the largest settlement involving a drunk driver in Virginia, the top verdict against the largest orthopedic practice in Virginia in 2018, and the top settlement involving county employees in a wrongful death case in Fairfax in 2019 (overcoming complex sovereign immunity issues).

Lee consistently achieves seven-figure verdicts, getting full justice for deserving people. For example, in 2015 he won the first verdict by a patient against a doctor in Augusta County, VA, followed in 2016 by what is believed to be the best verdict in an elective plastic surgery case in Richmond, Virginia.

Lee’s record of leadership highlights the priority he places on exceptional advocacy. He served as president of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, as one of two State Bar Council representatives from the seven counties in the 16th Judicial District for two terms, and chaired the Virginia State Bar litigation section and the mandatory continuing legal education board.

Lee was selected by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia to work on a committee that writes and edits jury instructions for Virginia trials.

Winner of the annual Lighthouse Award from the Southern Trial Lawyers Association in 2019, an award given to one lawyer per year in the United States for pioneering work in trial advocacy and mentoring, Lee edits books for lawyers about evidence and medical malpractice that are published by LexisNexis.

Great trial lawyers are both born and made. Lee was lucky to be trained and mentored by deans of the Virginia bar: Tom Albro, a pioneer in Virginia medical malpractice law who successfully changed the law to allow UVA and other state hospital doctors to be held accountable for malpractice without the protection of the doctrine of sovereign immunity (based on the ancient concept that "the King can do no wrong"); Lee began his career by clerking in Federal court in Charlottesville for Hon. Judge B. Waugh Crigler (B. Wise, B. Witty, B. Waugh), who is now one of the top mediators in Virginia and is loved and respected by all.

Lee enjoys hiking in the Blue Ridge Mountains and travel in his spare time.

Honors/Professional Activities

• Southern Trial Lawyers Association, Professor W. McKinley Smiley Jr. Lighthouse Award 2019, given to one lawyer in the United States per year for pioneering work in trial advocacy and mentoring.

• Best Lawyers, US News and World Report Lawyer of the Year: Medical Malpractice 2012

• Best Lawyers, US News and World Report Lawyer of the Year: Personal Injury 2015, 2017, 2019

• University of Virginia Law, Adjunct Faculty, “Trial Evidence: Principals and Practice” “Trial Advocacy” “Litigation Skills” “Professional Liability Law” 2002-Present

• Editorial Advisory Board: Trial Preparation Tools, Beth Driscoll Osowski, James Publishing, Inc. 2009

• Virginia Super Lawyers Top 100: Personal Injury, Medical Malpractice

• Virginia Supreme Court, Virginia Jury Instructions Committee 2013-Present

• Top 50 Lawyer for Personal Injury in Richmond, Virginia.

• Virginia Supreme Court, Electronic Filing Study Group 2007-2010

• Virginia Supreme Court, Appellate Rules Advisory Committee 2005-2008

• Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, President 2017-2018

• Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, Board of Governors 1999-Present

• Virginia State Bar, Bar Council Representative for the 16th Judicial Circuit

• Boyd-Graves Conference, Steering Committee

• American Association for Justice, Presidents Council

• Virginia Supreme Court, Wellness Committee

• Martindale-Hubbell: AV Preeminent Peer Review Rating

Books and Book Chapter Publications

• Evidence for the Trial Lawyer: Co-Author with Thomas J. Curcio, Matthew Bender & Company, Inc. a member of the LexisNexis Group 2007-2022

• Virginia Forms, Medical Malpractice, LexisNexis 2017-2022

Presentations and Publications

• Over 100 to trial attorneys in Lee's fields of specialty. (Please request a copy of Lee's C.V. if you would like a complete list.)

• Lee is a frequent Continuing Legal Education Speaker at conferences throughout Virginia and has spoken at conferences in Greece, St. John, and Puerto Rico.

• Lee sits on panels at conferences for doctors and insurance defense companies and has spoken at trade groups for medical malpractice defense lawyers, including the largest trade association for risk managers, the society for anesthesiologists, medical schools, and the Virginia Association of Defense Attorneys, representing the plaintiff's perspective at these meetings.