Richard is a Fellow in the International Academy of Trial Lawyers and the American Inns of Court. He is a former Navy carrier pilot and has been featured in numerous national newspaper and magazine articles and TV news shows for, among other things, his role in the State of Mississippi's pioneering litigation to recover public health care expenditures from the tobacco industry. Richard was named 1997 Mississippi Citizen of the Year by the March of Dimes, and was selected as the Outstanding Philanthropist by the Gulf Coast Community Foundation for the year 2000. In addition to his successful advocacy on behalf of the states against the tobacco industry, he is a strong advocate of consumerism. Richard recently won a $50 million verdict in federal court on behalf of a nationwide class of senior citizens who were victimized by a predatory lending scheme financed by Wall Street. He is a vocal advocate for federalism and states rights, and he strongly opposes the recent efforts by Washington-based business groups to "federalize" state consumer and tort laws.