IRA NEIL RICHARDS, a member of the Firm, is admitted to practice in the States of New York and Pennsylvania, the United States District Courts for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the Southern District of New York, and the District of Nebraska, as well as the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and the United States Supreme Court. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Law (J.D. magna cum laude, 1986), where he served as Special Project Director of the University of Pennsylvania Law Review. He was elected to the Order of the Coif and received the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association Award and the Wapner, Newman & Associates Award, both for trial advocacy. He is a 1983 graduate of Cornell University, where he received a B.S. in industrial and labor relations.

Mr. Richards has played a prominent role in complex litigation matters, including litigation in the securities, antitrust, consumer fields, as well as criminal defense matter in federal and state courts. In the securities area, Mr. Richards has had a substantial role in the following cases, among others: Moskowitz v. Lopp 128 F.R.D. 624 (E.D. Pa. 1989); Steiner, et. al. v. Hercules Corporation, et al., No. 90-422 (D. Del. 1992); and Hayes v. Gross, 982 F.2d 104 (3d Cir. 1992). In Riley v. Simmons, 43 F.3d 764 (3d Cir. 1994), Mr. Richards successfully argued for the reversal of a District Court's order dismissing claims of investors in annuities on abstention grounds. Mr. Richards has also been active in antitrust matters. For example, Mr. Richards presently is involved in litigation concerning the application of the Sports Broadcasting Act's antitrust exemption to the National Football League's "NFL Sunday Ticket" satellite program.

Mr. Richards has served as counsel and a member of the trial team in an action against the major domestic airlines, see In re Airline Ticket Commission Antitrust Litigation, 898 F. Supp. 685 (D. Minn. 1995), which resulted in recovery of $86 million for travel agency owners. Mr. Richards currently serves as co-lead counsel in multi-district litigation involving antitrust claims asserted against manufacturers of excimer lasers used in vision correction procedures. In the financial services area, Mr. Richards has litigated claims arising from the sale of credit insurance, home improvement financing, and the force placement of insurance, among other things. Mr. Richards has also been active in the Firm's criminal defense practice, particularly in issues relating to the application of RICO, and the forfeiture of assets, and in post-trial and appellate proceedings.

Mr. Richards is the co-author of an article published in the Practicing Law Institute's Practical Litigator on the trial of securities actions. He has also lectured on financial services litigation issues. In addition, Mr. Richards serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Philadelphia Region of the Anti-Defamation League. In 1999, Mr. Richards was named one of the Philadelphia Business Journal's "40 Under 40."