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Nick Leitch, Gentry Locke attorney

Powell M. (Nick) Leitch, III

Partner
Legal Assistant
Kay Jones540.983.9344
Paralegal
Tara Barnett540.983.9367
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Nick Leitch focused the first thirty years of his law practice on the defense of medical malpractice and products liability claims. His clients included a wide variety of health care providers, including physicians, nurses, hospitals, managed care organizations, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and ancillary health care providers. He now uses that wealth of experience to represent people who have been injured as a result of substandard health care.

Nick has lectured on various issues concerning medical negligence cases, including EMTALA (Emergency Medical Transfer and Active Labor Act), informed consent, patient confidentiality, and general quality assurance/risk management topics to numerous groups of medical professionals, such as the Alleghany-Bath Medical Society, the Virginia Society of Hospital Risk Managers, Virginia Western Community College, and the Parish Nurse Association. He has been recognized as a Virginia Super Lawyer in Personal Injury Defense: Medical Malpractice since 2013, and has been listed with Best Lawyers in America for Medical Malpractice Defense consistently since 2010.

  • Musical roles performed
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  • Newfoundland dogs
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  • Wildflowers in our garden
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  • Countries visited
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  • You've performed in several operas and many musicals. What is your favorite character to perform?

    My all-time favorite was performing Pirelli in "Sweeney Todd" with the Opera Roanoke. He was a bad guy who was funny and over-the-top in every respect. Every time I finished a bit the director would ask, "Can you do more...?" By the time we were performing it was way, way over the top!

  • What is your next scheme to cram more wildflowers in your garden?

    First we have to protect them from the dogs, because newfies like flowers, too. Maybe we'll work on getting another level going or try vertical gardening.

  • Do you have a guiding philosophy for your law practice?

    Everybody's entitled to the best representation that can be provided, no matter what their stature in society. No matter who my client is, the client's situation is always more important than my situation. Their needs come first and always will. They deserve and get the best I have to give. Whatever is left over goes to my wife and the dogs.

Education

  • Washington & Lee University School of Law, J.D.
  • Washington & Lee University, B.A. cum laude

Experience

  • Jury trial involving the failure of a radiologist to identify a hip fracture on an infant
  • Jury trial involving the failure of an endocrinologist to diagnose Cushing’s Syndrome
  • Federal jury trial in which a phrenic nerve was damaged in the course of administering anesthesia, resulting in the paralysis of a lung
  • Jury trial for a wrongful death claim against a gastroenterologist for failure to diagnose a lack of abdominal blood flow (mesenteric ischemia) in a patient

Affiliations

  • Member, American Board of Trial Advocates  (2019-Present)
  • Member, Roanoke Bar Association (1990-Present); past Board Member (2013-2014)
  • Member, Virginia Association of Defense Attorneys (1987-2004)
  • Member, The Defense Research Institute (1987-2004)
  • Member, The Virginia Bar Association (1987-1996)

Awards

  • Recognized by “Virginia Super Lawyers” in the area of Personal Injury Defense: Medical Malpractice (2013-2019)
  • Listed among The Best Lawyers in America® in the field of Medical Malpractice: Defendants (2010-2024), named “Roanoke Lawyer of the Year for Personal Injury Litigation: Defendants” (2019)
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Powell M. (Nick) Leitch, III, a Gentry Locke attorney
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