Russ Richards, King & Spalding, Atlanta (Photo: John Disney/ALM)

Russ Richards has spent his entire 45-year legal career at King & Spalding, working deals that have shaped the business landscape in multiple industries and helped companies expand their businesses, both domestically and internationally.

He has represented a diverse group of large institutional and private equity clients, such as Acuity Brands, Brighton Partners, ChoicePoint Inc., Clariant Corp., Hunter Douglas, Oxford Industries, Pinnacle Asset Management, Roper Technology, Seaboard Corp. and WestRock Co. in M&A and joint venture transactions. He also has worked closely with entrepreneurs and founders in the recapitalization or sale of their companies.

Some of the deals in which he represented clients include: the sale of ChoicePoint Inc. to Reed Elsevier (LexisNexis) in 2008; the spinoff of Acuity Brands and Zep Chemicals from National Service Industries; the representation of founder Bill Battle and The Collegiate Licensing Co. in the sale of the company to International Management Group in 2007; and the 2018 joint venture by Atlanta's Argenbright Holdings' with Delta Air Lines to form AirCo Aviation Services.

What drew you to representing clients going through mergers, acquisitions and other transactions?

Among Steve Jobs' many notable quotes was “You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward.” My background prior to arriving at King & Spalding included (a) five summers during and after college when I sold dictionaries door-to-door in Florida, Louisiana and North Carolina for the Southwestern Co. (Nashville, Tennessee); (b) an undergraduate degree in accounting and completion of the CPA exam; and (c) a heavy focus at Duke Law School in business and tax courses. So, upon joining King & Spalding, I was excited to interact with businesspeople in negotiating and consummating transactions that were meaningful to clients, on either the buy-side or sell-side. M&A deals have the very positive attribute of being “win-win” transactions, in the context of willing buyers and sellers.

Who was one of your most influential mentors, and what did you learn from that person?

Actually, I would be remiss in not naming the four most influential mentors in my life—in order of appearance! My father, Mark Richards, who influenced me from a very early age by walking by my open bedroom door every weekday morning at 5:30 a.m. in coat and tie and heading out to work, which was a great foundation for a solid work ethic.

Judge Griffin Bell, former U.S. attorney general and partner at King & Spalding, who modeled the virtues of being intensely focused on the interests of our clients and applying practical common sense judgment to legal advice. (In Judge Bell's case, that virtue was entitled “Uncommon Sense” in a biography by Reg Murphy.)

Roger Milliken, former chairman & CEO of Milliken & Co. (global textile company based in Spartanburg, South Carolina), who exemplified the value of gathering and considering all important facts prior to making significant business decisions and who was a “role model” listener. He could have made any decision without seeking the advice of anyone, but he did just the opposite—he sought the advice of advisers that he trusted and listened carefully to their input before making a decision.

My wife, Melanie, who has been an exemplary wife, mother and friend and who has been an extraordinary role model for each of our children and for me, personally.

During your career, technology has allowed transactions to occur much faster than when documents had to be mailed, even overnight, between parties. How has that affected your representation?

On a pretechnology to current technology basis, in a dramatic fashion. Negotiation of transactions pretechnology was uniformly conducted in face-to-face meetings, which basically lasted until all issues were resolved. Today, multiple rounds of negotiations in effect take place through the exchange (by email) of various revisions of core documents. Which then leads to a handful of issues that are often resolved through conference calls and, on occasion, through a meeting focused solely on those open issues. All in all, the process today is more efficient.

What's the best advice you'd give to an inexperienced transactions lawyer about client development?

Learn to be an outstanding lawyer who renders superior client service, both in terms of quality and responsiveness. After you have accomplished that goal, a client will be open to expanding your (and your colleagues') role with the client.

What drew you to your work with the Atlanta Speech School?

Atlanta Speech School is an extraordinaryschool, which is not only a local and regional treasure but also a national and international resource. The school, which was founded in 1938, has four school programs—The Keenan Preschool (for developing remarkably-ready preschool learners), The Wardlaw School (for children with learning differences, such as dyslexia, auditory processing and retrieval issues), The Stepping Stones Preschool (for children experiencing speech or language delays) and The Katherine Hamm Center (for children who are deaf or hard of hearing). In addition, the school has The Rollins Center and The Cox Campus, which serve as “best practices” teaching resources both nationally and internationally.

Four of our children attended the Speech School—including two who attended The  Wardlaw School. All received outstanding core educational skills. Of the two who attended The Wardlaw School, one needed to develop skills to address auditory processing issues, and one needed to develop skills to address retrieval and visual processing issues. For those two who attended The Wardlaw School (at age 6), the school literally changed their lives. One went on to Duke University, and the other went on to the University of Texas in Austin, where both excelled. But for The Wardlaw School, those two kids would have not had those “storybook” incredible educational, social and vocational paths. When a school changes the lives of your 6-year-old children, you quickly become devoted to the school. We sure did!