W. Ritchie Smith Jr.

Ritchie Smith, Jr. was born in Jacksonville, Florida on November 20, 1934. He has resided in Fayetteville since 1942 when he moved here with his family for his father to manage Sears, which he did until his retirement in 1965. He Attended Fayetteville High School through 11 grades and graduated from Fishburne Military School in Waynesboro, VA. He received his BA from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill in 1956, and he graduated from University of North Carolina School of Law in 1958 where he was a member of the North Carolina Law Review. He has been in private practice since 1958. From 1959 to 1963, Ritchie Smith was a Prosecutor for Fayetteville City Court (Solicitor). He founded the law firm of Smith, Dickey, Smith, Hasty & Dempster, P.A. in 1973, and he was joined in 1981 by D. Pittman Dickey and in 1987 by partner Allen Smith. In 1995 partner David Hasty, who was a former Assistant District Attorney, joined the law firm, and in 1996, partner Andrew Dempster, former Assistant District Attorney and sitting District Court Judge, joined the firm.

Ritchie Smith served as Secretary-Treasurer of the Cumberland County Bar in 1959-60. He was elected as president of the Twelfth Judicial District Bar Association in 1995-96. In 1996, he was named as a Board Certified Specialist in the area of Real Property Law- Residential Transactions by the North Carolina State Bar Board of Legal Specialization.

Ritchie Smith has a history of representing those injured as a result of other's negligence, as well as other civil litigation. He has handled many cases in the area of condemnation/eminent domain, where his real estate specialization has served him well. He also is proud to have been plaintiff's counsel in Jones v. McDonald's, which resulted in the largest reported malicious prosecution verdict in North Carolina at the time.

Ritchie Smith is now of counsel with the law firm, and his depth of knowledge, wisdom, experience, and his reputation as an honest and forthright attorney have proved to be of tremendous benefit to the younger members of the firm.