Practice Areas
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Corporate Law; SEC Compliance
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Business Transactions; M&A
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Transaction Processing and e-Commerce
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Consumer and Commercial Finance; Consumer Reporting; Data Protection
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Corporate Governance and Compliance Programs
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Business Process Outsourcing
Education
Bar and Court Admissions, Memberships
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State Bar of Georgia, 1993 (Corporate Counsel Section: Executive Committee 1995-2005; Program Chair 1995; Chairman 1997)
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California, 1981
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California Central District Court, 1984
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Mr. Richards is a business lawyer with an extensive corporate, transactional and regulatory background. In addition to the U.S., his business transactions have included acquisitions in both Europe and South America. Having served as general counsel and an executive officer of three publicly traded companies, including NYSE companies Equifax (S&P 500) and Certegy (S&P Midcap 400), Mr. Richards excels at evaluating, managing and advising with respect to the broad spectrum of legal challenges facing his clients’ businesses. While serving as general counsel, Mr. Richards also has performed several related roles, which have included overseeing legislative affairs, serving as corporate secretary, and serving on the internal audit, risk management, and pension committees.
Mr. Richards’ specific areas of industry expertise include payment processing (including credit card, check and e-payments), consumer and commercial credit, consumer reporting and collections, and related data acquisition, use and protection. In connection with work in these areas, Mr. Richards has represented his clients in connection with a variety of multi-million dollar transactions, including acquisitions, spin-offs, alliances, customer contracts, government contracts, IT outsourcing, and patent licenses. Mr. Richards also represents his clients in a wide variety of other day-to-day business agreements, including real property and equipment leasing, software licenses and employment and consulting contracts. He also has achieved favorable results for his clients in connection with several federal and state regulatory inquiries involving company practices affecting consumers.
Mr. Richards also has extensive experience in developing and implementing innovative litigation management programs on a national scale for companies with significant volumes of recurring litigation. |
