A Letter from the President
January 15, 2025
Publication
Happy New Year! I am writing to you full of gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve as president of Richards, Layton & Finger during the celebration of our 125th anniversary. I’m proud of our long history of delivering exceptional legal services to our clients and the many ways our lawyers and staff give back to our community.
Richards, Layton & Finger has been pushing the law forward in our state for 125 years. We’re privileged to practice in the state that has long defined corporate law for the rest of the nation, and we’re proud to have been a part of helping Delaware achieve its national prominence.
From the small office Robert Richards rented on Market Street in Wilmington in 1899 to the eight floors we occupy today at One Rodney Square as Delaware’s largest law firm, we have advanced the practice of law in Delaware as well as supporting clients both nationally and internationally.
We have protected our client’s interests in engagements of national significance, including landmark cases defining the duties of corporate directors such as Unocal, Disney, Caremark, TimeWarner, and Paramount. Our reputation for excellence covers a wide range of matters, from high-profile bankruptcies to major commercial real estate transactions. While we frequently serve small and mid-sized businesses, our talented litigators regularly tackle complex business disputes and large-scale IP matters, and our transactional lawyers have handled record numbers of $100 million-plus deals involving major corporations.
Richards Layton has been instrumental in developing business law in Delaware and beyond, having drafted many of Delaware’s key business statutes and authored influential scholarship. Beyond our renowned corporate work, we operate the state’s largest alternative entities practice, leading the way for Delaware limited liability companies, partnerships, and statutory trusts.
We’re proud of the community service and pro bono work we do year-round, year after year. Our lawyers and staff recently volunteered more than 5,000 annual hours of pro bono service for local organizations like the Ministry of Caring, the Office of the Child Advocate, the Innocence Project, Delaware Volunteer Legal Services, and more. Here is our Pro Bono Annual Report, outlining our continuing efforts to meet the needs of others in our community.
Richards Layton has been advancing diversity from the start. We were the first major Delaware law firm with a female partner, an African American partner, a Jewish partner, and a South Asian partner, and one of the first with a Hispanic partner. Following Doneene Damon, the first African American woman to head a major Delaware law firm, I’m proud to serve as our second woman president. Our Diversity & Inclusion Annual Report shows all the ways we are committed to fostering diversity in the law and in the community.
Richards, Layton & Finger celebrates our 125th anniversary with profound gratitude for the Delaware legal community of which we are a part and with a fresh determination to continue pushing it forward. We thank you for being such an integral part of our community, and we look forward to continuing to work together for years to come.
Sincerely,
Lisa Schmidt
President
Richards, Layton & Finger