Biography
Richard practices complex business litigation and corporate bankruptcy and is regularly involved in commercial disputes in the Federal and State Courts in Delaware and throughout the United States. He regularly counsels businesses and individuals in complex litigation and bankruptcy matters and has appeared in courts and other tribunals throughout the United States.
Richard has been a member of the Delaware bar since 1995 and assisted in opening the firm’s Wilmington, Delaware office more than 25 years ago. In this capacity, he has diverse litigation experience in the Delaware Courts and is also actively involved in the firm’s Delaware corporate Chapter 11 bankruptcy practice. Richard regularly practices before the Delaware Court of Chancery, the Complex Commercial Litigation Division of the Delaware Superior Court and the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.
Education
University of Notre Dame, J.D.
Temple University, LL.M. in Trial Advocacy
Boston College, B.A.
Admissions
Pennsylvania
New Jersey
Delaware
Memberships
Instructor, LLM program in trial advocacy, Temple University School of Law
Participant, Leadership, Inc.
Member, Delaware Bar Association
Member, American Bankruptcy Institute
Member, Board of Trustees, Archmere Academy
Founder, Notre Dame Lawyers Committee of Philadelphia
Awards & Honors
Turnaround Management Association Transaction of the Year Award:
- Large Company Transaction: Cooper-Booth Wholesale Company (represented unsecured creditors committee)
M&A Advisor Turnaround Award:
- Industrial Manufacturing and Distribution Deal of the Year: Saladworks, LLC (represented unsecured creditors committee)
- Consumer Discretionary Deal of the Year: Thane International, Inc. (represented secured lender)
Experience
- Counsel to equipment and asset-based lender in chapter 11 case involving workout of $150 million loan portfolio
- Representation of private equity fund in obtaining mandatory injunction to enforce rights under convertible note
- Counsel to unsecured creditors committee of industrial manufacturer in chapter 11 case involving channeling injunction related to trichloro ethylene contamination
- Representation of secured note holder in successful dismissal of chapter 11 case filed by telecommunications company
- Counsel to commercial lender in successful prosecution of legal malpractice action involving documentation of complex asset-based financing and related collateral valuations
- Representation of a former member of a Delaware limited liability company in successful extension of “fee advancement” doctrine in connection with indemnification obligations for fiduciary duty and breach of contract action
- Successfully obtained dismissal of multiple counts of a securities fraud and common law fraud case in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, which was upheld by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
- Represented a dissenting shareholder in a corporate appraisal case through trial that resulted in a substantial increase from the original price offered in the merger
- Successfully defeated a challenge to Delaware’s confession of judgment procedures in the Delaware Supreme Court
- Routinely represents diverse constituents in complex corporate Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases, including unsecured creditors’ committees, debtors and secured lenders
- Counsel to an investment company in a successful litigation of complex fraud claims that arose in a cross-border insolvency proceeding;
- Counsel to a liquidating trust of a defunct Delaware corporation in wide-reaching litigation involving numerous parties associated with fraud committed by two officers of the corporation
- Counsel to investors in a public company in an involuntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing and post-petition directors and officers litigation that resulted in a substantial settlement
- Counsel to insurers in complex coverage disputes arising from mass-tort claims
- Represented a national automobile insurer in the dismissal of a consumer class action lawsuit