Richard C. "Rip" Sullivan, Jr.

Member, The Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership
State Advisory Board

Rip is a partner with Reed Smith LLP, where he has been a commercial litigator for over 20 years. He holds a B.A. from Amherst College and a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.

Rip is a member of the Virginia State Bar Council and the Board of Governors of the Virginia Bar Association. He has served in a variety of bar-related positions during his career, including Chairman of the VSB/VBA Joint Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee, the VSB Special Committee on Resolution of Fee Disputes, the VSB Task Force on Emergency Legal Services, and as a member of the VSB Access to Justice Committee and Chairman of its Funding Alternatives Subcommittee. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Fairfax Law Foundation, has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Alexandria Bar Foundation, and is a member of the Virginia Bar Association, the Fairfax Bar Association, and the Federal Bar Association. He is licensed to practice in Virginia and D.C., has been named by Virginia Business Magazine as a member of Virginia's Legal Elite, and has been named as both a Virginia and D.C. Super Lawyer.

In addition to his bar-related activities, Rip has served on the Boards of Directors of Legal Services of Northern Virginia (President in 2002), the Potomac Legal Aid Society, and Homestretch, Inc. He was appointed by Governor Kaine to the Virginia Civics Commission, and was appointed to the Fairfax County Transportation Advisory Commission and the Fairfax Consumer Protection Commission. He is also a member of the Chairman's Advisory Board of the United States Institute of Peace in Washington, DC.

Rip lives in McLean, Virginia with his wife Beth, and their four children Corey, Ryan, Jack and Joe.

Biographical notes provided by the office of Rip Sullivan