IN MEMORIAMRichard’s practice focuses on business litigation, regulatory compliance and legislative initiatives.

As co-head of the firm’s litigation department, Richard’s practice focuses on business litigation, regulatory compliance and legislative initiatives.

His experience as strategic and lead counsel to both plaintiffs and defendants includes antitrust, securities and state tax issues; RICO, labor and employment concerns; and First Amendment disputes and investigations. Over his 35-year legal career, Richard has argued numerous appellate cases and is admitted to practice before the US Supreme Court; the US Courts of Appeals for the Third, Fifth, Sixth, Ninth and Eleventh Circuits; and the US District Court for the Northern District of New York.

Relevant Experience

• Serves as national employment law class action counsel for a major US company for which he and his partners also routinely defend employment law and wage-hour class actions.
• Represents a client in its defense of 25 class actions arising from an invasion of its computer network.
• Represents a client in defense of multiple shareholder actions challenging the recent acquisition of a major fast food chain.
• Represented Spartanburg Regional Healthcare systems in its antitrust class action alleging monopoly maintenance and attempted monopolization against Hillenbrand Industries, a manufacturer of hospital beds. Prior to trial, the case settled for $337.5 million in cash and injunctive relief valued at an additional $152 million.

• Served as lead counsel in a series of shareholder fraud class actions challenging a share exchange between a company and its major shareholder.
• Served as outside counsel to major airline companies on a variety of litigation matters ranging from contested mergers to asset disposition and collective bargaining disputes.
• Served as coordinating and lead counsel for a major retail chain in defending a series of lawsuits and parallel regulatory complaints, including purported ERISA, wage-hour and Title VII class-actions and related securities fraud litigation, while prosecuting suits for abuse of process, RICO/antitrust and state tort law violations against a variety of defendants, including ABC's PrimeTime Live.
• Served as lead counsel before the US Supreme Court in a landmark Railway Labor Act case, Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad v. Railway Labor Executives Association.
• Served as lead counsel for an oil refiner in a case alleging a conspiracy to sabotage the internal operations of its refinery and breach of contract, while serving as coordinating counsel for related class actions involving shareholder derivative, Clean Air Act and employment claims.
• Represented a major pharmaceutical manufacturer in its defense of a purported nationwide class action alleging race discrimination in pay and promotions.
• Represented a national construction company in “disaster mitigation” as a result of a 4th Circuit decision holding that the company improperly implemented its 1995 last offer.

Bar Admissions

Education
JD, Emory University School of Law, 1979BA, Auburn University, 1975