Richard graduated in 1970 from Rose Polytechnic Institute (now Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology) with a B.S. in electrical engineering. Prior to entering private practice he worked as an engineer in integrated circuit fabrication and testing, and on a corporate patent staff. In 1974 he received his J.D. from the Indiana University School of Law - Indianapolis. Richard entered the private practice of intellectual property law in 1974 as an associate at the intellectual property law firm of Trask, Jenkins & Hanley in Indianapolis, and became a partner in that firm in 1979. He became a partner in Barnes & Thornburg in 1982 when the Jenkins firm merged with Barnes & Thornburg.
Richard is licensed to practice in Indiana, at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana and the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Richard's areas of interest in patent practice have included: television; power supplies, controls and applications; coating material dispensing equipment; medical equipment, instruments and systems for hospitals, medical laboratories, physicians' offices and home use; electrical and fiber optic networks and network test equipment for internet and cable television applications; power measurement; computer-related inventions; and business methods.