Richard A. Pacia

During the course of a legal career that has spanned six decades, Attorney Richard A. Pacia has represented thousands of clients from all walks of life and recovered millions of dollars on their behalf.

Attorney Pacia has acted as lead counsel in thousands of jury trials, non-jury trials, arbitrations, mediations, and settlements. He has a proven track record of success and has secured favorable judgments, jury verdicts, settlements, and dispositions in the Federal Court and the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Rhode Island, as well as the Rhode Island Supreme Court, Superior Court, District Court, Family Court, Worker’s Compensation Court, Traffic Tribunal and the many Probate Courts, Municipal Courts and administrative agencies of state government. He has taken appeals to the Supreme Court and overturned the decisions of judges who have ruled against him. He will stand up for you, fight for you and champion your cause.

In 2008, Attorney Pacia was awarded the prestigious Martindale Hubbell AV Peer Review Rating, which is the highest rating that can be given to an attorney and is based on “peer review” recommendations by other lawyers who have recognized him as an attorney with very high to preeminent legal ability. He has held that distinction and award continuously since then. Additionally, he was again awarded distinction as an AVVO Top Rated Lawyer in 2025.

Attorney Pacia has been admitted to all the courts of the State of Rhode Island as well as the United States Supreme Court, the United States Circuit Court of Appeals (1st Circuit), the United States District Court (Rhode Island) ,and the United States Tax Court. He served as Legal Counsel to the 1986 Rhode Island Constitutional Convention. He was certified as an Advocate by the National College of Advocacy in 1992.

Attorney Pacia has extensive knowledge in wide areas of law and has been “in the trenches” litigating cases regularly on a day-to-day basis in all the courts of Rhode Island for close to fifty years. He is an experienced advocate, a tenacious litigator, a hard-nosed negotiator and will champion your cause to obtain the best result possible and get you all the money your case deserves.

Attorney Pacia has been a leader in the legal profession. He has been active in the Rhode Island Bar Association, has served as Rhode Island Bar Association President, Vice-President, Treasurer, and Secretary, and has provided many years of service as a member of the Bar Association’s Executive Committee and House of Delegates. As a past chairperson of the Bar Association’s Continuing Legal Education Committee, Annual Meetings Committee and New Lawyers Committee, Attorney Pacia personally has been involved in the initiation, implementation, and presentation of hundreds of educational seminars and conferences over many years to thousands of lawyers. He has been honored by the Rhode Island Bar Association for providing distinguished pro bono representation to the poor and disadvantaged and, in this regard, was awarded the Rhode Island Bar Association Pro Bono Publico Award and the Continuing Legal Service Award for his pro bono efforts over the course of his long legal career. He continues to serve as an active participant in the Volunteer Lawyer Program.

Attorney Pacia has published articles on personal injury law, lectured on personal injury law and presented legal educational seminars on numerous legal topics to groups such as the Rhode Island Bar Association, the Rhode Island Trial Lawyers Association, the Justinian Law Society, the National Italian American Bar Association, various law schools throughout southern New England and many other professional organizations.

Attorney Pacia’s professional affiliations include membership in the American Bar Association, the Rhode Island Bar Association, the American Association of Justice, the Rhode Island Association of Justice, the National Italian American Bar Association, the Justinian Law Society of Rhode Island, and the Pawtucket Bar Association. He has served as the Chairperson of the Rhode Island Legal Educational Partnership. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Bar Association Law Day Committee. He has served as President and continues to serve as a Board Member, of the Justinian Law Society of Rhode Island. He was a founding director of the St. Thomas More Society and served on the Board of Visitors of the Columbus School of Law of The Catholic University of America. He has been appointed by both the Rhode Island Supreme Court and the Rhode Island Superior Court as a court-approved arbitrator and has been appointed to the Panel of Arbitrators by the American Arbitration Association. He is the recipient of the American Jurisprudence Award for Excellent Achievement in Civil Procedure. Over the course of several decades, he has been involved in numerous civic, non-profit, community, and charitable organizations. Through The Richard Pacia Kids Foundation, he has donated thousands of dollars to needy deserving, underprivileged children.