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IB member Chad McCoy of McCoy, Hiestand &amp; Smith, Louisville, KY, pulls double duty as a full-time lawyer and member of the Kentucky House of Representatives<em>. </em>

But why stop there?

Chad is a proud to call himself a geek. He understands five computer languages. He spends time outside with his wife and twin boys, fly fishing, running, and skiing.  Chad also takes to the air as a licensed pilot, a high school robotics team coach and adjunct professor of law.

Anything else?

“I get bored quickly,” he tells IB.<a href=”https://www.injuryboard.org/firm/mccoy-hiestand-smith-plc/”><img class=”alignright size-full wp-image-13″ src=”/wp-content/uploads/sites/242/2020/02/mccoy-chad.jpg” alt=”Chad McCoy, McCoy, Hiestand &amp; Smith” width=”178″ height=”178″ /></a>

McCoy just returned home after the state legislative session where he is a representative.

He began his career doing corporate mergers and acquisitions. Later he merged into employment litigation for the big firm he had joined, not as a defense lawyer but for the plaintiff. He even took on criminal work for a while, but put that aside when he was elected to the legislature, after an op-ed he penned went viral.

“It got the attention of some people and they reached out to me and said we’d like to see you make a run for this. I never had a political desire to run in my life. My dad was a small town lawyer who said take every opportunity that comes you way, you never know where it’s going to take you.”

Interestingly, his first accomplishment in the legislature pleased almost everyone. He helped change the law so that people travelling to Kentucky to partake in its fine vintage bourbon can do so, allowing the owner of a vintage bottle of spirits, in its original container, that is no longer commercially available, to sell it to a bar for public consumption. The move proved to be an incentive to the restaurant industry, even in sleepy Kentucky towns.

McCoy also worked closely with the Kentucky Justice Association to sponsor a tort reform bill that the Chamber of Commerce likes. So do plaintiffs’ attorneys.

“We got away from rhetoric in order to get to the problem. There is a reason we have the reputation we have and there’s also some bad apples out there, like bad doctors, but the bulk of us, we ought to want to stop the bad guys. So that’s been our pitch if there is fraud I’m with you, root out the fraud but keep the courthouse open and the right to hold people accountable. Everybody seems to agree.”

McCoy says being in the legislature is more fun than he ever imagined. The pace is nonstop and he spends every 15 minutes on a different issue, listening to all sides of an argument.

Having been elected for a second term this past November, he ran for leadership. McCoy spotted a problematic bill that came in that seemed to offer immunity to doctors and hospitals, even though the effort was intended to protect the use of midwives.

“It would have fundamentally changed the law and nobody was trying to change the law. Being in leadership we saw they had worded it to take away the concept of vicarious liability if the midwife worked for the hospital, the hospital would be immune. We went back in to explain the concept that you should only be liable for your own negligent acts.”

McCoy is looking forward to the May IB ROI gathering to connect with the quality lawyers who he says share his values of helping people in their time of need.

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