Lee Richards of Richards Kibbe & Orbe (Photo by David Handschuh/NYLJ)

The Law Journal's lifetime achievement award is an award apart: “Best” lawyers and “Super” lawyers seem a dime a dozen in the supremely talented New York legal community—but this award is particularly outstanding. And so is Lee Richards.

Lee has compiled a remarkable record of success for clients in consequential matters. There is hardly a high-profile white-collar matter in the past four decades in which Lee hasn't had a critical assignment. From Salomon Brothers' firm-threatening treasury auction scandal of the early 1990s to the recent London Whale, LIBOR and FIFA investigations, Lee has represented key players.

In between he has handled such headline-grabbing representations as securities analyst Jack Grubman, whom then-attorney general Elliot Spitzer placed at the epicenter of a scandal that transformed Wall Street's approach to equity research, and NY City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who was exonerated in a career-threatening corruption investigation. Not surprisingly, Lee is frequently called upon to counsel corporate boards and audit committees and appointed by courts to serve as receiver or examiner of scandal-ridden enterprises, including Computer Associates and Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities.

This tremendous success flows directly from Lee's reputation as a smart, supportive and sensible lawyer whose word and judgment is held in great esteem by everyone who knows him, including prosecutors and regulators. Whether he is dealing with a junior associate, clerk, opposing counsel or court, Lee's manner is invariably modest and graceful. Though his matters are often in the headlines, Lee seeks no attention—he succeeds with credibility and fairness, not braggadocio. It is entirely right that in 2015 he won the American Inns of Court Professionalism Award for the Second Circuit, a unique honor granted “to a lawyer or judge whose life and practice display sterling character and unquestioned integrity, coupled with ongoing dedication to the highest standards of the legal profession and the rule of law.”

However exceptional Lee's work has been to date—and there's no let-up in sight—Lee's professional achievements go well beyond the work he's done for clients. After serving for six years at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, where he achieved the nation's first criminal conviction for insider trading, he eschewed offers from the major firms and instead, without apparent connections to any client, started his own law firm. On the night before his first day in private practice Lee dreamed he and his one colleague were playing Scrabble since they had no work to do. A new Scrabble set was quickly placed in the office but, happily, Lee never had to open it. Today, Richards Kibbe & Orbe has a sophisticated, big-ticket practice that rivals the city's major firms and offices in New York, Washington, D.C. and London. Thanks to Lee's reputation and his unstinting regard for people, his firm has attracted elite talent and, in addition to its coveted ranking in Chambers, is ranked as a “Best Law Firm for Minority Attorneys” by Law360. Most important, Lee created a firm culture that prizes collegiality, mutual respect and a commitment to the legal profession.

But Lee's achievements do not stop there. Lee has done far more than his share to ensure that younger lawyers recognize the law as a profession. Mentoring younger lawyers comes naturally to Lee. Teaching ethical, effective trial advocacy at Fordham Law School was one of his passions for many years. And nearly 20 years ago he was instrumental in creating and then leading an institution—the Federal Bar Council Inn of Court—which combines judges, senior practitioners and less experienced lawyers in a joint pursuit of the best practices of our profession. Lee's commitment to the integrity of the profession has been recognized in his recent appointment to the Appellate Division, First Department's Departmental Disciplinary Committee.

The Law Journal's recognition is notably fitting: Lee Richards has long brought splendid credit to the New York legal community.

Richard Ziegler has known Lee Richards since 1975, when they both clerked for SDNY Judge Milton Pollack, whose tough love for his law clerks created an unbreakable bond and spurred a wonderfully close decades-long friendship. Ziegler is a partner at Jenner & Block in New York.