Prior Experience
Richard has dedicated his professional legal career to providing indigent individuals with equal access to justice. Before joining DLA Piper, he worked at the New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG), New York’s largest privately funded legal services organization. He joined NYLAG in 1993, serving as a senior staff attorney where he represented clients in all facets of matrimonial and family law, in both the state and appellate courts. Later, he was tasked with creating NYLAG's first pro bono program and was named its Pro Bono Supervising Attorney in 1997. In that role, he supervised attorneys from most of New York’s leading firms in their representation of low-income clients.
By 2005, Richard was part of NYLAG’s senior management team. With responsibility for the day-to-day operations of the office, he assisted with lobbying and fundraising efforts and recruited and hired attorneys and summer associates, while continuing his role leading NYLAG's pro bono program
After graduating from Skidmore College with high honors, Richard spent two years in banking at Chase Manhattan Bank (now JP Morgan Chase), first in its Management Development Program and then in its Private Banking Group.