Ira Neil Richards is a partner in the Firm’s Litigation Services Department, chair of the Class Action and Government Regulatory Affairs Practice Groups, and the Political Action Committee. He also serves on the Firm’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee and is a member of the Firm’s Executive Committee.
Mr. Richards practices nationally representing clients in complex litigation matters. He has decades of experience in litigating complex, multiparty actions for businesses and government agencies on both the plaintiffs’ and defendants’ sides. His class action experience spans a variety of substantive areas, including antitrust, securities, and consumer matters. He also represents clients in matters involving obligations under leases for gas in the Marcellus Shale region, corporate governance disputes, and partnership and shareholder disputes. In addition, Mr. Richards represents government agencies in matters under state and federal law. As an appellate advocate, Mr. Richards has argued cutting edge issues in federal and state appellate courts.
News & Publications
- Ira Richards Elected to Schnader’s Executive Committee; Megan Harmon Re-Elected
- Schnader Attorneys Named to The Best Lawyers in America
- Third Circuit Takes Broad View of Rule 23(c)(4) Issue-Class Certification
- Schnader Attorneys Named to The Best Lawyers in America
- Schnader Attorneys Named to The Best Lawyers in America
- PA Super Lawyers Named
- Sea Change in Class Action Settlement Process: A Year Under Revised Rule 23(e)
- Schnader Lawyers Named to PA Super Lawyers and Rising Stars
- 2nd Circuit Reinforces Standard of Proof to Rebut Class Certification
- Many Schnader Attorneys Named to Super Lawyers 2016
- Two Recent Opinions Reflect Important Developments in Heightened Ascertainability for Class Certification
- Super Lawyers Recognizes Many Schnader Attorneys in 2015
- Third Circuit Weighs in on Application of Daubert at Class Certification Stage
- American Arbitration Association Panel Distinguishes Third Circuit’s Holding in Opalinski
- Third Circuit Holds That a Court, Not an Arbitrator, Must Decide Whether an Arbitration Agreement Authorizes Class-wide Arbitration
- Affirmative Business Litigation in the United States and in Other Countries
- Super Lawyers Recognizes Many Schnader Attorneys in 2014
- Despite Delay, Failure to Plead, and Participation in Litigation, Federal Court Enforces Arbitration Clause
- Attorneys from Rodriguez & Richards Named Among Top Laterals of 2013
- Trujillo Rodriguez & Richards Named Among Top Laterals in Philadelphia
- Third Circuit Enforces Strict Deadline to Petition for Permission to Appeal Class Certification Ruling
- Third Circuit Remands Marcellus Shale Case Based on the Class Action Fairness Act’s Local Controversy Exception
- Is the United States Supreme Court Poised to Overrule or Modify Basic Inc. v. Levinson? – part 1
- The Seventh Circuit Suggests that Cy Pres Still Has a Place in Class Actions When Potential Individual Awards Seem Too Small to Justify Class Treatment
- The Enhanced Scrutiny of Class Definitions Under the Ascertainability Requirement: An Additional Hurdle for Plaintiffs or an Increased Burden for Defendants?
- The Enhanced Scrutiny of Class Definitions Under the Ascertainability Requirement: An Additional Hurdle for Plaintiffs or an Increased Burden for Defendants?
- Attorneys from Trujillo Rodriguez & Richards Join Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis
Community & Pro Bono
- Mr. Richards is actively involved in the community, having served on a variety of boards of organizations devoted to the needs of underserved communities. He presently serves as Chair of the Board of Pathways to Housing PA, which uses a “housing first” model to combat homelessness.
- Mr. Richards is also active in politics and chairs the firm’s Political Action Committee. He is also a certified yoga teacher.
Education
- University of Pennsylvania Law School, J.D., magna cum laude, 1986
- Cornell University, B.S., industrial and labor relations, 1983
Bar Admissions
- Pennsylvania, 1987
- New York, 1987
Court Admissions
- U.S. Supreme Court
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
- U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
- U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
Other Distinctions
- Listed in The Best Lawyers in America in the area of Commercial Litigation, 2021-2023
- Listed in Pennsylvania “Super Lawyers,” 2004-2016, 2019-2020
- Philadelphia Business Journal “40 Under 40,” 1999
Representative Matters
Securities
Mr. Richards’ securities experience includes:
- Served as liaison counsel for the lead plaintiff in Koch v. Healthcare Services Group, Inc. (E.D. Pa.), which resulted in a settlement of $16.8 million for a class of investors.
- Served as co-counsel for four Pennsylvania government funds in litigation arising from the funds’ purchases of AOL and Time Warner securities. The litigation resulted in a $23 million settlement for the funds.
- Served as counsel to a government pension fund in In re IndyMac Mortgage Backed Securities Litigation (S.D. NY), which settled for $364 million.
- Served as co-lead counsel in the class action matter, In re KLA Tencor Securities Litigation (N.D. Cal.), obtaining a $65 million settlement for the class of securities purchasers.
- Litigated claims relating to corporate governance and mergers and acquisitions, as counsel for plaintiffs in Lucas v. Hill, (D. NJ), which involved claims relating to the management of Commerce Bank and TD Bank’s acquisition of Commerce.
Antitrust
In the antitrust field, Mr. Richards’ experience includes:
- Served as co-lead counsel for the plaintiffs in the class action matter, In re Pillar Point Partners Patent and Antitrust Litigation, MDL No. 1202 (D. Ariz.), a multidistrict litigation involving antitrust claims asserted against manufacturers of excimer lasers used in vision correction procedures. The litigation resulted in a $50 million settlement on behalf of a class of direct purchasers.
- Served as co-lead counsel for the plaintiffs in the class action matter, In re Pressure Sensitive Labelstock Antitrust Litigation, MDL No. 1556 (M.D. Pa.), which resulted in settlements totaling over $46 million for the class in multidistrict litigation involving allegations of market allocation, output restriction, and price fixing.
- Served as co-lead 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 an $86 million settlement for travel agency owners
- Served as counsel in a class action brought on behalf of direct purchasers of private label tape, alleging monopolization of the tape market in In Meijer, Inc. v. 3M (E.D. Pa.). The litigation resulted in a $28.8 million settlement for the class.
Complex Commercial and Government Litigation
- Served as lead counsel for the plaintiffs in a class action brought on behalf of Pennsylvania insurance customers who did not receive a state-mandated 10% discount for passive anti-theft devices in Boyle v. Progressive Specialty Insurance Company (E.D. Pa.). The litigation resulted in a $2 million settlement for the class.
- Served as outside counsel in a municipal procurement investigation, which resulted in the vendor paying a substantial fine.
- Represented the co-owner of a general partner in a dispute over the efforts of the other co-owner to force a sale of the single, significant asset of the partnership, defeating an effort by the other co-owner to obtain an injunction to force a sale.
- Represented a Montgomery County municipality in a dispute over the development and condemnation of a condominium project, obtaining a substantial trial judgment against the developer and negotiating an agreement with public and private entities to repurpose the project to benefit the community.
- Represented a government agency in defending a dispute alleging a de facto condemnation of property and in connection with proceedings to value the property following a de jure condemnation.
- Represented a municipal government and obtained dismissal of a class action seeking medical monitoring and damages for alleged injuries.
- Represented land owners in a variety of matters relating to royalty and other disputes under leases for gas drilling rights, including in Bankruptcy Court matters.
- Represented the defendant in a claim brought as a class action under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which ultimately was resolved on an individual basis.
Related Events
- Ira Richards Discussed Mindfulness in Law at Villanova Law School
- Ira Neil Richards Presented about Mindfulness in Law
- Ira Richards Discussed “Defining or Challenging Class Membership: Evaluating Ascertainability, Overbreadth and Failsafe Class Issues”
- Ira Neil Richards Spoke at HarrisMartin’s Antitrust Pay-for-Delay Litigation Conference
- Ira Richards Spoke at the 22nd National Conference on Consumer Finance Class Actions & Litigation
- Anne Kane and Ira Richards Presented “Protecting the Privacy of Your Employees and Customers”
