James L. Tate, Jr., was a graduate of Virginia Tech where he was a member of Beta Theta Phi and graduated from the Marshall Wythe Law School at the College of William and Mary in 1986 . He joined the firm in 1986 practicing with the firm briefly before joining the Army as a JAG officer in January 1987. He received an honorable discharge in October of 1989.
He practiced with the Richmond Public Defender office until he re-joined Florance Gordon & Brown on May 1, 1990, practicing with the real estate team.
He died September 18, 1992 survived by his fiancée, Corinna A. Barrett of Richmond; father, Ja
mes Lee Tate, Sr., of Mechanicsville; sister and brother-in-law, Judy and Greg Gregory of New York; grandmother, Mary Hanks Tedford; a niece, Brenda Layne, and two nephews, Tate and Grant Gregory.