Theodore J. Caldwell Jr.

Theodore J. Caldwell, Jr., Esquire, is a member of the firm of Young Ricchiuti Caldwell & Heller, LLC. Mr. Caldwell engages exclusively in complex civil litigation, primarily representing severely injured plaintiffs in product liability, medical malpractice, construction site/workplace accidents and other catastrophic personal injury litigation. He previously practiced with several of the firm’s members at Litvin, Blumberg, Matusow & Young, where he started as a paralegal, attended law school, became an associate and eventually a shareholder. He has over 30 years’ experience in complex catastrophic personal injury litigation and has obtained numerous settlements and verdicts in excess of $1 million for his clients.

Mr. Caldwell is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and Outstanding Lawyers of America. He has been selected by his peers as a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer every year since 2006, and was selected as a member of the National Association of Distinguished Counsel in 2015. Martindale-Hubbell has given Mr. Caldwell its highest rating* for legal ability and legal ethics since 1998.

Mr. Caldwell practices primarily in Philadelphia and the four surrounding suburban counties. He has also handled matters in counties throughout eastern Pennsylvania, as well as in United States District Courts in both the Eastern and Western Districts of Pennsylvania. Mr. Caldwell has been admitted to practice pro hac vice in the state courts of Delaware, New Jersey and North Carolina, as well as federal court in Kansas.

Over the course of his career Mr. Caldwell has developed a special interest and expertise in representing severely injured children, particularly infants and toddlers who have suffered catastrophic brain damage. He has represented brain damaged children who suffered birth injuries from negligence during labor and delivery, immediately after birth and in the early days or weeks of life. He has represented children or their parents in products liability cases arising from defects in children’s furniture or toys that have led to tragic injury. He has represented older children as well, including in cases in which defective sports or recreational equipment led to spinal cord damage and paralysis. He has also represented children in civil rights actions arising from horrific abuse that occurred while they were in foster care.

Mr. Caldwell has written and lectured to other lawyers on issues relating to product liability, joint tortfeasor releases, the statute of limitations, obstetrical malpractice litigation, employer’s tort liability and common pleas court procedures. He is a member of the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and American Bar Associations. He serves as a member of the Philadelphia Bar Association Medical-Legal Committee and State Civil Litigation Section, and is a member of the ABA Tort and Insurance Practice Section. He is also a member of the Philadelphia and Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Associations and the American Association of Justice.

Mr. Caldwell received his B.A. in political science from Miami (O.) University in 1978. Beginning in 1983 Mr. Caldwell attended Temple University School of Law while working full-time as a paralegal. He graduated from Temple magna cum laude in May 1987. He received several awards for academic excellence, including being selected the Barankopf Scholar for the academic year 1986-87. He also received both the Law Faculty Award and the Robert E. Lamberton Constitutional Law Award for 1987.

*AV®, AV Preeminent®, Martindale-Hubbell Distinguished and Martindale-Hubbell Notable are certification marks used under license in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards and policies. Martindale-Hubbell® is the facilitator of a peer review rating process. Ratings reflect the anonymous opinions of members of the bar and the judiciary. Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Rating™ fall into two categories – legal ability and general ethical standards.