Richard M. Russo is the Partner In Charge of the Denver office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and is the senior corporate partner there.  He focuses on the representation of business entities, with emphasis on securities and disclosure matters, mergers and acquisitions, restructurings and corporate governance matters.  He is a co-Chair of the firm's Corporate Transactions Practice Group and has recently completed terms on the firm's Executive and Management Committees.  Mr. Russo is listed in the 2005-2009 editions of The Best Lawyers in America for Corporate/M&A Law, and has been named to the 2008 International Financial Law Review as a Leading Lawyer in US Capital Markets – Debt and Equity and Mergers and Acquisitions.  In addition, Mr. Russo has been selected by Chambers and Partners as a leading Mergers and Acquisitions Lawyer for its 2005-2009 Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business Guide.

After receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree from New York University in 1971 magna cum laude, Mr. Russo received his law degree from Yale Law School, where he was a director of the Yale Moot Court of Appeals.  He joined the firm in 1974 and practiced in the firm's Los Angeles and Century City offices from 1974 to 1981.  Mr. Russo was one of the founders of the firm's Denver office, where he practiced until 1987.  Mr. Russo returned to the firm's Denver office in 1992 after spending five years at the firm's New York office.

Mr. Russo has handled numerous significant matters for local, national and international clients, including public and private offerings of debt and equity securities; private equity investments; acquisitions, divestitures, spin-offs, and squeeze-outs; as well as corporate governance and disclosure matters.  He has also served as counsel to independent directors in connection with acquisitions, spinoffs and leveraged buyouts.  Representative clients include Qwest Communications, The Williams Companies, CH2M HILL, and DineEquity, Inc.

Mr. Russo is the co-author of Colorado Limited Liability Company, Forms and Practice Manual, and is the past Chairman of the Planning and Zoning Commission of Greenwood Village.