Barry Richard concentrates his practice, both jury and non-jury, in the fields of complex commercial litigation, appellate law, government and election law, and state and federal constitutional law.
He is licensed to practice in Florida, New York and the District of Columbia, and has been admitted pro hac vice as lead counsel in courts in New Jersey, California, Michigan, Illinois, Arizona and South Carolina. A significant percentage of his practice is in federal court.
In addition to being an established civil trial lawyer, Richard is generally recognized as one of Florida’s most respected appellate attorneys. He has successfully argued three major cases before the United States Supreme Court and numerous cases before the Florida Supreme Court and all lower state and federal appellate courts in Florida. He is considered one of Florida’s leading constitutional lawyers and has argued many of the significant constitutional cases both in Florida and nationally over the past two decades. He has argued over 200 appellate cases nationally, and has obtained successful appellate decisions in cases involving some of the most significant constitutional questions and some of the largest judgments in Florida history.
Richard’s professional reputation in the area of government and election law is illustrated by the broad, non-partisan nature of his representation. He gained a national reputation for his representation of President George W. Bush in the 2000 presidential election litigation. In that capacity, he successfully managed 46 lawsuits and personally argued several critical cases on behalf of President Bush. Under both Republican and Democratic administrations, he has been retained at various times as special counsel to the governor, the Florida Legislature, the Florida attorney general, the Florida Secretary of State, and the Florida Insurance Commissioner.
In the 1998 election, Richard served simultaneously as campaign legal counsel to Republican Gov. Jeb Bush and the Democratic incumbent candidate for Florida treasurer and insurance commissioner (now U.S. Senator) Bill Nelson. His stature among his fellow lawyers is reflected by the fact that he has been retained for more than two decades by The Florida Bar as its general litigation counsel and has been retained by the Florida Academy of Trial Lawyers to represent it before the Florida Supreme Court.